Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle modern slavery in Libya.

​The UK is committed to safe, legal and well-managed migration. We need a comprehensive approach, addressing the root causes of migration, as well as their consequences. The Prime Minister has made eradicating modern slavery one of her top foreign policy priorities. Our new £75 million migration programme will specifically target migrants travelling from West Africa via the Sahel to Libya and will provide protection and critical humanitarian support to reduce suffering and exploitation. The UK also supports the Declaration from the EU-Africa Summit to address the situation in Libya, including efforts to sanction people smugglers, and the establishment of a UN-EU-AU Taskforce to facilitate the Assisted Voluntary Return for migrants in Libya. We support further efforts in this area, including by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.

I recently discussed this issue with representatives from the Libyan government of National Accord in Tripoli.