Kurdistan
Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms after leaving Libya to reach European soil. AP file photo
ERBIL, Kurdistan region - Iraq's diplomatic mission in Libya has located a dozen Kurdish migrants who have travelled to the north African country, intending to use its waterways to reach Europe, an official confirmed to Rudaw on Sunday.
A total of 12 migrants - all Kurds from the Kurdistan Region, who had "entered Libya illegally were found," said Ahmed al-Sahaf, chargé d'affaires at the Iraqi diplomatic mission in Tripoli.
Sahad added they had begun "coordination procedures with the Libyan authorities regarding proving their identities in preparation for their voluntary return to Iraq."
The Kurdistan Region has seen repeated waves of youth migration over the past decade, largely driven by economic hardship and the search for better opportunities abroad.
This new batch of illegal migrants is “an indication of the increasing activity of human smuggling and trafficking networks,” between Iraq and Libya which has increased significantly in the past year, noted Sahaf.
Earlier this month, another five Kurdish migrants were located in Tripoli, according to Sahaf.
Iraq has repatriated 68 migrants from Libya so far, according to the Iraqi official.
Rudaw reported in July that increasing numbers of youth from Sulaimani province's Raparin Administration have turned to the Libya-Italy route to reach Europe, as tighter restrictions have made the traditional Turkey-Greece crossing less viable.
“Most migrants are going through Libya,” Europe-based migrant rights activist Ranj Pishdari has previously told Rudaw. “From there, they head across the Mediterranean to Italy. It’s become the preferred route despite the risks.”
The Libya-Italy journey typically takes around eight hours, compared to up to 72 hours through Greece, but can cost as much as $17,000 per person, much of it paid to militias that control Libya’s coast, according to Bakr Ali, head of the Association of Returned Refugees (ARR).
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