300 migrants bound for UK kidnapped and threatened with kidney removal: BBC
Families were pressured to pay $5,000 per captive as evidence suggested torture and possible organ removal, the BBC reported.
- Last summer, a Libyan militia kidnapped 300 Iraqi Kurdish migrants heading to the UK, imprisoning them in a guarded compound and subjecting them to torture, the BBC has learned.
- A dispute involving smuggler Noah Aaron triggered the kidnapping, as the militia claimed he owed money from a previous deal. Libya's 'huge vacuum of government' enabled the exploitation, according to UN adviser Anthony Dunkerley.
- Families faced ransom demands of $5,000 per hostage, with captors warning that payment would be taken 'with a kidney' if funds were delayed. Former captives reported nearly 180 people sharing a single cell.
- In January, the Iraqi government organized a flight that returned 110 hostages to Iraqi Kurdistan, though it remains unclear how many migrants remain captive. Survivors have urged friends and family to avoid the dangerous journey to Europe.
- Despite these risks, illegal migration from Ranya continues, as the region remains 'riddled with active smuggling networks,' according to a Chatham House report. Hemn Merany of the Kurdistan Regional Government warned that the exploitation cycle persists.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Iraqi Kurdish migrants’ perilous journey
Migrants often endure perilous journeys, be it crossing the Darien Gap on foot, the Mediterranean Sea in plastic dinghies, or the Sahara Desert under extreme heat. Along the way, there can be people who seek to exploit these migrants, as the BBC reported was the case for at least 300 Iraqi Kurds who were captured by Libyan militias in the North African country last summer. Over 100 have since been flown back to Kurdish-held areas of Iraq, some b…
Saudi Gazette
AlKhaleej Today300 Kurdish migrants bound for UK kidnapped and threatened with kidney removal
LONDON — An investigation into the fate of more than 300 Kurdish migrants, who sought to cross into the United Kingdom using illegal routes, has exposed a horrifying human trafficking and organ-harvesting ring operating in war-torn, militia-controlled Libya.More than 300 migrants heading to the UK last summer were kidnapped, tortured and threatened with forced organ removal, according to the investigation carried out by the BBC.The young men, al…
Hundreds of illegal migrants heading to Britain kidnapped and tortured in Libya
Hundreds of illegal migrants heading to Britain last summer were kidnapped and tortured in Libya, it has been revealed.More than 300 young men are said to be threatened with forced organ removal if they do not pay a ransom of £3,700.The migrants, from Iraqi Kurdistan, described being held in inhumane conditions, with around 180 people crammed into a single cell.One hostage has died, according to the BBC. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say It rema…
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