...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
's chief said Monday, nearly two months after reports emerged showing refugees being sold as slaves.
That number is short of the AU's goal to fly 20,000 out of the conflict-wracked north African nation by mid-January, but chairperson of the AU commission Moussa Faki Mahamat insisted the campaign was on course.
"We have 13,000, and every day, the number increases," Faki told a presser after the closing of an AU summit in the Æthiopian capital Addis Ababa.
"I believe that this process is on course, although with a bit of delay. Already more than two thirds... have been repatriated," he added.
Faki announced the repatriations after media reports emerged in November showing black Africans being sold as slaves in Libya, which has no central government.
The country collapsed into violent chaos after the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...The late megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie
bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland...
, with a myriad of militias and several jihadist groups battling for influence.
Libya has long been a transit hub for
Together with the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
and European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing..., the AU is ferrying the
Many of those who were repatriated are refugees, Faki added.
Those who cannot go back to their home countries have been offered refuge by Niger and Rwanda.