On Sunday, Indian authorities announced the repatriation of 12 workers who were stranded in Libya for the past two months.
In a statement, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) said that this came thanks to joint efforts between the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, and the Indian Embassy in Tunisia. The workers were illegally taken to Libya from Punjab Province, by an agent who “promised them lucrative jobs, a good salary, and a happy life.”
According to the statement, the workers “were taken to Libya and were offered jobs in private companies without any salary, and kept as bonded labour. They also alleged that they were brutally beaten and denied proper food.”
NCM Chairman, Iqbal Singh Lalpura received requests from some local leaders to repatriate the workers. He forwarded the demands to the Indian Foreign Ministry and requested urgent action. The Embassy of India in Tunisia was also contacted in this regard.
As informed by the Embassy, “a resident of Benghazi helped in providing assistance and relief supplies to the stranded Indians. Four were successfully returned from Libya on 12 February, and the remaining eight were brought back on 4 March,” it said.
Notably, a boat carrying 25 people – most of them Syrian nationals – sank on Friday evening off the coast of the city of Tobruk, in eastern Libya. At least 16 Syrian were confirmed dead, according to North Press Agency.
A young man from the city of Kobani, northern Syria, who lives in Libya, said, under the condition of anonymity, that “ten of the victims are from Kobani, six of them belonging to the same family. Three are from Afrin, in northwest Syria, and three are from different parts of Syria.”
Thousands of African and Middle Eastern people arrive every year in Libya, which has become a major transit point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The North African nation descended into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed long-time leader Muammer Gaddafi in 2011.
Human traffickers have benefited from the lawlessness in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the country’s lengthy borders with six nations. The migrants are then packed into ill-equipped rubber boats and other vessels and set off on risky sea voyages.
