ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Five additional migrants from the Kurdistan Region have been located in Libya after arriving there on their journey to Europe, a senior official from Iraq’s embassy in Tripoli said on Thursday.
“We were able to find five migrants from the Kurdistan Region who had illegally entered Libyan territory during the past two months," Ahmed al-Sahaf, chargé d'affaires at the Iraqi diplomatic mission in Tripoli, told Rudaw.
Sahaf said on Wednesday that they had readied credentials for a total of 41 migrants - all from the Kurdistan Region - ahead of their repatriation from the country. They too had entered the north African country to use its waterways to illegally move to Europe.
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.
The Iraqi diplomat explained that finding the last group was possible due to coordination with relevant authorities in Tripoli, adding that their passport issuance procedures have been completed in preparation for their return to Iraq."
Iraq has repatriated 68 migrants from Libya so far, according to Sahaf.
Rudaw reported in July that increasing numbers of youth from Sulaimani’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.
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).
Hastyar Qadir contributed to this article.
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