On Thursday, Libyan police forces in Benghazi arrested a 24-year-old man, who had kidnapped a 14-year-old Egyptian child.
In a statement, the Benghazi Security Directorate stated that “the kidnapper demanded a ransom of 100,000 Libyan dinars, in exchange for the release of the Egyptian child who works in a marble factory.”
It explained that the factory head filed a complaint, after his employee was kidnapped. The Directorate indicated that the security forces managed to free the child, and arrest the suspect.
It confirmed that the perpetrator confessed to planning to kidnap the child, in exchange for a ransom of 5,000 dinars, and keeping him blindfolded for a week.
Notably, Libya ranked 20th among the insecure countries, according to the Numbeo Crime Index. The war-torn country was rated 62.00 in the crime index, a high rating.
Tripoli ranked 50th in the world, in the Crime Index classification for cities, and the second in the Arab world, with Damascus coming first. Tripoli received 64.27 degrees on the crime index, a high crime level.
The Crime Prevalence Index aims to assess the general level of crime in 135 countries around the world. The crime index is based on several criteria; such as murder, robbery, and rape.
Amnesty International urged the European Union to reverse its migration policy on Libya. It described the approach as helping return migrants to “hellish” conditions in the North African country.
In a statement, the international organization said that more than 82,000 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya. This has been happening for the past five years, since the EU began its cooperation with Libyan authorities to block migrants from reaching European shores, according to the AFP.
“Many of those who have been returned to Libya — including women and children — are held in government-run detention centers where they suffer from abuse, including torture, rape, and extortion,” the group said. Other migrants were “forcibly disappeared.”
In 2021, a total of 32,425 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya. 662 died, and 891 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the central Mediterranean route, the IOM said.