Iraq to send military planes to Libya to rescue stranded Kurdish migrants

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two Iraqi military planes are scheduled to fly to Libya to repatriate more than 150 stranded migrants from the Kurdistan Region, a Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament told Rudaw on Sunday, saying the repatriation is expected to take place in the coming days.

Parliamentarian Muthanna Amin said that “two planes will fly from Iraq to Libya on Wednesday and Thursday” to “return the 160 [Kurdish] migrants,” explaining that, since “the military cargo plane can accommodate about 130 passengers, two planes are necessary.”

Amin further relayed that on Saturday, “about five more migrants were rescued, with traffickers charging between three and four thousand dollars for releasing each person.'"

Kurdish migrants faced repeated detentions in Libya and Tunisia last year, with several groups returned to the Kurdistan Region. Most of them attempt to reach European countries via the Mediterranean Sea route.

The Libya-Italy route has grown increasingly popular, as tighter restrictions have made the Turkey-Greece crossing less viable. While the journey can take as little as eight hours - compared with up to 72 hours through Greece - it can cost as much as $17,000 per person, much of it paid to militias controlling Libya’s coast, according to Bakr Ali, head of the Association of Returned Refugees.

For his part, the Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, Amin, relayed that "yesterday [Saturday], about five more migrants were rescued, as traffickers charge between three to four thousand dollars for releasing each person."

The Libya-Italy route has become increasingly popular, as tighter restrictions have made the Turkey-Greece crossing less viable. While the journey can take as little as eight hours - compared to up to 72 hours through Greece - it can cost as much as $17,000 per person, much of it paid to militias controlling Libya’s coast, according to Bakr Ali, head of the Association of Returned Refugees.

Earlier this month, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, acting head of the Iraqi embassy in Libya, told Rudaw that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani had approved the use of special planes to repatriate the stranded migrants.

“We have completed all the necessary arrangements for their voluntary return to Iraq and to their families. They will be returning within the next few days,” he said, explaining that the operation is part of efforts to “strengthen the voluntary return mechanism” led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protect Iraqi youth from the dangers of smuggling networks and human trafficking.