Security officials in eastern Libya report they have successfully rescued 120 migrants from human trafficking facilities and sent them back to their home countries, while also discovering three bodies along the Mediterranean coastline.
The Ajdabiya security directorate released details showing that an Egyptian migrant who had fled captivity and was discovered wandering exhausted in the coastal community of Bishr provided crucial information that guided law enforcement to where the other victims were being detained.
According to the official statement issued late Monday, the Egyptian escapee had been confined alongside fellow Egyptians and migrants from various other countries “inside a den used to torture migrants and blackmail their families.”
Libya has served as a major pathway for migrants escaping war and economic hardship seeking passage to Europe through perilous journeys across desert terrain and Mediterranean waters since Muammar Gaddafi’s government fell during a NATO-supported rebellion in 2011.
The nation’s oil-based economy also attracts desperate migrants looking for employment opportunities, but widespread security problems across the vast territory leave these individuals exposed to exploitation and violence.
The rescue mission to liberate the imprisoned migrants spanned nearly two weeks, according to the Ajdabiya security directorate.
While in captivity, the victims had been “forced to plead for help under whippings and beatings, while their suffering is documented in videos sent to their families to extort money from them,” officials stated.
The remains of two migrants from Bangladesh and one from Egypt were discovered along the coastline in Bishr, situated approximately 122 kilometers (76 miles) west of Ajdabiya, authorities reported. A vessel was also located on the beach.
Officials released photographs that appeared to show rescued migrants seated on floors following their recovery from the traffickers, along with images of identification documents, marine engines, blue water storage containers and wooden boats in various stages of completion.
Authorities indicated they also dismantled a small boat manufacturing operation and have issued arrest orders for human traffickers who remain at large.
The rescued migrants have been returned to their countries of origin, though specific details about the deportation process were not disclosed.
