The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Nima Elbagir's Firsthand Look at Libya's Slave Trade

Episode Date: July 9, 2019

CNN correspondent Nima Elbagir discusses her undercover report on human trafficking in Libya and the country's instability in the absence of Muammar al-Gaddafi's regime. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast. The Weekly Show is going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about

ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Please welcome. CNN's senior international correspondent, Nima El Barrier.

Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. Your story that broke on CNN about the slave trade in Africa was one that was truly one of the most shocking stories. Thank you so much. Your story that broke on CNN about the slave trade in Africa was one that was truly one of the most shocking stories most people had ever heard. Slavery in 2018. Is it as widespread as it seems to be?

Is it something that people should be as worried as they are? In Libya, yes. And I think that this is something we're still trying to piece together. We're still working to understand this. And what is extraordinary is that the slavery is part and parcel of their business model. You want to go to Europe, you have been sold on this dream of Europe and they send out almost like advertising campaigns. People into these communities, these young kids, 17, 18, 19, we can get you to Europe. You you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you. You. You the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, thoe, thoomoomoomoom, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And, th. And, and th. And, and th. And, and th. And, and th. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, th. And, th. And, th. And, and, and, and, and, th. And, and the, and the, and thea, and thea, and thea. And, thea. And, theaughea, thea, thea, thea. And, thea. And, thea. And, tha. 19, we can get you to Europe. You don't have the money, we will give you the money. We will loan you the money.

So it's indentured servitude built into it. But that's the Nigerian or the Aritraean aspect, the different source countries. When you get to Libya, then they say, well, actually, how much did you pay? thoun. It's, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their, their. their. their. their. their. their. their, their, their. their. their. their. their, their. their. their, their. their, their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. to. toe. toeauuuuuuuauauauauauauauauauauauauauauaua. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea going to pay it off. And a lot of these people are then held as, you know, they're kidnapped by the slave traders, their families have to pay a ransom. How is it that the story doesn't seem to filter back to everyone that is trying to find their way to a better life? Is it that people don't believe it, or is it just there is no network in the countries to warn people of the slave trade? I think

it's a combination of the fact that human optimism has no limits. People presume this isn't going to happen to me. Right. And also that they are coming from the most horrifying environments, the poverty, the repression in countries like Aritreya, the war in the west of Sudan where I'm from in Darfur, and anything anything looks better than that that, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the the the people, th, the people, the people, the people, the people, the people, thu, the thi, thi, their, their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thu, thu, thu, thu, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, thi, thr-a, thri, thriiiiii, thr-a, thiiiiii, thi, thi, thi, their, their, Sudan where I'm from in Darfur and anything looks better than that. Right. When you look at the people who are traveling across to these countries, oftentimes people don't seem to express as much sympathy for them because they go like, well they're trying to sneak into another country or they're trying to get there, they're try to smuggle themselves in. You you with that term smuggling or why? I do

because especially when you hear the term economic migrant, there's this real sense that they're kind of trying to lay that down. Economic migrant, like people are kind of wandering on to a plane, dragging their carry-ons behind them. Here we are, we're economically migracing. They're being trafficked. And smuggling legally and trafficking, they're very difficult to kind of disentangle. But when you, as I was in that little clip you showed, when you are told that part of your journey, sexual abuse and rape and exploitation is part of that journey, that's trafficking. And therefore when people call it economic migration,

they're choosing to step back and not act. When you were creating that story, when you were reporting on that, you went undercover as a would-be migrant, trying to work her way through to see how it all goes down. That must have been a terrifying experience. Did it give you a larger understanding of what women are going through in Africa as they try to make their way to these European countries?

Yeah, because in the moment, I think, of course, I know intellectually that, first of all, I'm not alone. I have my amazing producer, Lenin Lipposa with me, and we had a backup plan. You know, we had a cordonon in a sense but in that moment when that man was so close and I'd spent about 45 minutes in a car with him just I mean it's it's ridiculous but it's horrible to even think about it you know him kind of squeezed against me the intimidation and he looked down and he saw my wedding ring and he said to me are you married and I said yes and he said that doesn't exist anymore not on this journey and it was it was a tiny glimpse into what these

kids these 17 18 19 year old girls how must it feel for them? When you look at responsibility is there a reason it's happening in Libya specifically why is that the hotbed of the slave trade right now? Because you have entire communities, entire towns for example like specifically, why is that the hotbed of the slave trade right now? Because you have entire communities, entire towns, for example, like Subha, which is the main thoroughfare into Libya, down in the southeast. That is under the control of militias and criminal gangs. You have no government footprint far out beyond Tripoli. And you have competing power bases.

And I remember President President Obama at the end of his administration he said that he believed Libya was one of the biggest mistakes because there was no effective intervention and this is what a lack of an effective intervention looks like, a failed state. It is a dilemma for many people. I always wondered how the people of Libya feel about it because at the time the story was liberation. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed, the people of Libya feel about it, because at the time, the story was liberation. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed. The country is free.

And then you look at Libya now, and it's descended into a world where there is literally a slave trade. Do people now look back and wish on a time when Mama Gaddafi was in power? Yeah, amazingly they do. There is this extraordinary nostalgia for Gaddafi and his rule, because there's a nostalgia for stability. Because their hope was that, and you know,

obviously it's incredibly naive to believe that any country would want to put boots on the ground post the Iraq experience. But there was a sense that there would at least be some kind of stabilization effort. And that didn't didn't didn't didn't th didn't that didn't that didn't that didn't that didn't th didn't that didn't th didn't then then then thi that didn't thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi o' thi o'a thoomozymea thoomoomozymea, thoomozymea. thozymea. thoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoomozy. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their they. they. thi thi thi thi thi thoomorrow that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's thoananananananananana.a. that's thoe be some kind of stabilization effort and that didn't happen and so people are kind of looking back and saying well when was the last time we were stable? Oh, it was under Gaddafi. Wow, that's a scary place to be in. For people who see these stories on this side of the world, I mean, after your report

came out, people were hashtagging. Many of us felt helpless because you are. Is there anything that a person on this side of the world can do to help in any way with the situation? Well, I mean, we are honestly just so incredibly grateful that you've had me on tonight. As long as we keep reminding people that this is still happening, because I think at the time, everybody heard all this noise. Right. And we all thought, well, something, someone somewhere. I don't know who is, but someone is doing something, God damage. But of course no one was. The Security Council met four times, and they still haven't found an effective way through this. But I think if we keep reminding them that we care, then I think ultimately they will be

forced to do something. Thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you so much for having more about Nema's reporting and to get involved in the fight against modern day slavery, go to CNN.com. S. Freedom. Nema Alba here, everybody. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central

and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videosto the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me.

The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.