Four Pakistani migrants have reportedly been kidnapped in Libya by human traffickers, their families told Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
The kidnappers asked for a ransom of 5.6 million Indian Rupees to be paid for their safe release. The abducted Migrants are Aamir Hayat, Waleed Khan, Bilal Khan and Afzal Junaid, aged between 22 to 25 years.
Their family members claimed they had sold their land to finance their journey to Italy. They said they paid about 7.2 million Indian Rupees to an agent, who assured to take the youth to Europe via Libya.
The brother of Aamir Hayat, said, “we are not aware who was that agent, but we were lured and deceived with assurance that our relatives will reach Europe at any cost.”
However, he said when the youth reached the Libyan coast about three months ago they were held by the group and shifted to a jail on the outskirts of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
The families said a few youths of the area had earlier succeeded to reach Europe, and the agent used that “success” to attract the parents to pay according to his demand.
Saeedullah Jan, father of Bilal Khan, appealed to the Pakistani High Commissioner in Libya to play his role in release of the four men as they did not have enough money to get them freed from their captors.
They recalled that another four Pakistani youth were burnt to death when their boat caught fire mid-sea in the first week of October when they set out on a journey to reach Italy.
Notably, the Libyan Red Crescent said in a statement that rescue workers have recovered 15 bodies found on the coast in Sabratha. These included a number of bodies that were burned inside a boat and others on the beach.
A security source in Sabratha told Reuters that the bodies were migrants caught in a dispute between two rival human traffickers in the city, a major hub for migration across the Mediterranean. The Libyan Red Crescent added that all of the bodies were recovered and placed in the hospital fridges to complete the legal procedures.
The United Nations Support Mission to Libya (UNSMIL) strongly condemned the “heinous killing of at least 15 migrants and asylum-seekers in Sabratah.” In a statement, the United Nations (UN) said that eleven charred bodies were found inside the docked boat, with a further four wounded bodies found outside.
Libyan security forces announced that they have arrested two suspect of the in the massacre.
