ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - One of the 25 Kurds who returned from Libya on Friday described the harrowing ordeal he endured at the hands of smugglers and prison guards in the north African nation where his attempt to reach Europe ended.
“The situation there is horrible,” said Ramyar Haidar. “A friend of mine asked for some bread and they [smugglers] put a gun to his head and were about to kill him.”
Haidar was among 25 Kurds, most from the town of Ranya in the Raparin administration of northern Sulaimani province, who were returned to Erbil through the joint efforts of the Kurdistan Region’s Department of Foreign Relations and the Iraqi consulate in Libya.
The Libya-Italy route is increasingly popular among youth from Raparin trying to get to Europe as tighter restrictions have made the Turkey-Greece crossing less viable. Dozens have been repatriated to the Kurdistan Region after being stranded in Libya.
Haidar spoke to Rudaw about the conditions in Libya’s prisons. “Each of us were given one loaf of bread a day,” he said. “We had lost all hope there. Even now I can not believe that I am finally back.”
He said some Kurds are still detained in Libya and their situation is “very bad.