IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 644 
Strongly condemning the slave auctions of migrants and refugees in Libya, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 4, 2017 
Ms. BASS (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. POE of Texas, Ms. LEE, Mr. RICH-
MOND, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. HAS-
TINGS, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. EDDIE 
BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BLU-
MENAUER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, 
Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. VEASEY, 
Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. PLASKETT, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. 
BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. LAWRENCE, 
Mrs. LOVE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. RUSH, Mr. PALLONE, and 
Ms. ADAMS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Strongly condemning the slave auctions of migrants and 
refugees in Libya, and for other purposes. 
Whereas on, November 14, 2017, a Cable News Network 
(CNN) investigation uncovered slave auctions of migrants 
and refugees in Libya; 
Whereas in April 2017, the International Organization for 
Migration (IOM) gathered evidence and issued a warning 
about slave markets in Libya; 
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•HRES 644 IH 
Whereas in December 2016, the United Nations Office of the 
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) re-
ported that many migrants in Libya are forced to work 
for no pay on farms, as domestic workers, construction 
and road paving workers, and rubbish collectors, includ-
ing by or for guards working in detention centers run by 
Libya’s Department for Combatting Illegal Migration 
(DCIM); 
Whereas Libya is a primary transit hub for migrants and ref-
ugees attempting to reach Southern Europe by sea and 
the United Nations estimates that there are now between 
700,000 and one million migrants and refugees in the 
country; 
Whereas human smuggling and trafficking has become a lu-
crative trade as a result of the power vacuum in Libya 
after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011; 
Whereas OHCHR reported that DCIM guards torture, sexu-
ally assault, and otherwise abuse detainees, there is no 
refugee registration process or legal procedures to chal-
lenge detention, and conditions are generally inhumane— 
including severe overcrowding and inadequate access to 
toilets, washing facilities, food, and clean water; 
Whereas the United Nations International Children’s Emer-
gency Fund (UNICEF) reported that unaccompanied 
children who crossed the Mediterranean suffered enslave-
ment, violence, and sexual abuse at the hands of smug-
glers and traffickers; 
Whereas UNICEF reported not all migrants and refugees are 
held in centers run by DCIM and that some are held in 
unofficial camps run by armed groups; 
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•HRES 644 IH 
Whereas Libya’s weak central government and continuing po-
litical turmoil is a contributing factor for the insecurity 
in the country and it has been reported that the Govern-
ment of National Accord does not control the entire coun-
try; 
Whereas poverty and insecurity are the key drivers of migra-
tion in the sub-Saharan countries from which many of 
the migrants originate; and 
Whereas slavery has no place in the world: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) strongly condemns slave auctions of mi-
grants and refugees in Libya; 
(2) calls upon the Government of Libya to— 
(A) conduct an immediate investigation 
into the existence of slave auctions and forced 
labor involving migrants and refugees; 
(B) hold smugglers, traffickers, detention 
center guards, and anyone else involved ac-
countable; 
(C) manage migration flows in a humane 
manner; 
(D) urgently end the violent and inhumane 
conditions of official migrant detention centers 
and generally manage migration flows in a hu-
mane manner; and 
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•HRES 644 IH 
(E) swiftly register asylum seekers and 
fairly process their refugee claims and do not 
detain them; 
(3) calls upon the United Nations to— 
(A) investigate allegations of the slave 
trade and other forced labor in Libya; 
(B) encourage Libya to allow the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 
to regularly monitor and publicly report on the 
situation of all refugees and migrants in Libya, 
including those detained in official detention 
centers; and 
(C) impose sanctions against Libya if the 
country fails to end slave auctions and other 
forms of forced labor; 
(4) calls upon the African Union to— 
(A) conduct its own investigation into slave 
auctions of African refugees and migrants in 
Libya; 
(B) work to assist migrants in Libya who 
genuinely wish to return home; and 
(C) impose sanctions against Libya if the 
slave auctions and other forms of forced labor 
do not end; 
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•HRES 644 IH 
(5) calls upon the Secretary of State and the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development to use funds authorized 
and appropriated for— 
(A) provision of humanitarian assistance to 
migrants and refugees in detention centers in 
Libya; and 
(B) the development of a holistic strategy 
for Libya to address the political and security 
situation that includes issues related to mi-
grants and refugees in detention centers; and 
(6) calls upon the President to ensure the De-
partment of State and the United States Agency for 
International Development are adequately staffed to 
monitor and develop strategies to rapidly respond to 
the migrant and refugee situation in Libya. 
Æ 
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