UN adds 6 traffickers and smugglers to Libya sanctions list

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council has imposed sanctions on six leaders of criminal networks engaged in human trafficking and migrant smuggling from Libya.

The Netherlands U.N. Mission, which led efforts to list the six men, said it was the first time ever that the council has imposed sanctions "on the leaders of violent human-trafficking and people-smuggling networks."

The travel ban and asset freeze were imposed Thursday after Russia informed the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against Libya that it decided "to lift the hold" it had placed on adding the six men to the sanctions blacklist.

The Netherlands Mission said "the listings aim to destroy the business model of human trafficking networks and tackle the appalling human rights situation of migrants that were sold as slaves on the markets of Libya."