Libya: Militias Kidnap 60 Migrants, Including Two Dozen Children

On Saturday, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced that a Libyan armed group, aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) is holding hostage at least 60 migrants, including two dozen children, in “appalling” conditions after abducting them over two weeks ago.

According to MSF, masked gunmen abducted the migrants on September 28th from the town of al-Ajaylat, about 80 km west of Tripoli.

In its statement, the organization said that the armed group initially took hostage around 350 migrants, mainly from West Africa, but most of the migrants managed to escape while some others were released.

The international humanitarian organization of French origin noted that it had notified the Libyan government’s agency for combating illegal migration two days after the abduction, and later visited the warehouse where the migrants were detained.

Guillaume Baret, MSF’s head of mission in Libya said: "We found over 350 women, children, and men sleeping on the ground in appalling living conditions without access to water, showers, or toilets."

MSF added that the militia stole valuable items and identification documents from the migrants, before taking them to a warehouse guarded by armed men in the nearby coastal city of Sabratha, the biggest launching point for the mainly African migrants who make the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean Sea.

The humanitarian group said that the remaining hostages are being held by the militia at a former military base.

It added that the militiamen are likely seeking a ransom from families of the held migrants, or to sell them to other traffickers.

The kidnapping of migrants illustrates the dangers that refugees and migrants face in war-torn Libya, where those trapped in the country cannot escape the violence or find safety, according to Doctors Without Borders.

Libya is considered as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing violence and poverty to Europe, after the country collapsed in Libya after a civil war that toppled the former regime in 2011, according to the same agency.