Libyen: Flüchtlinge als Geiseln

Neues aus Libyen, jener Hölle für Flüchtlinge und seinen Milizen, die, wenn sie sich nur Küstenwache nennen, begehrte Kooperationspartner der EU sind;

A Libyan armed group is holding hostage at least 60 migrants, including two dozen children, in “appalling” conditions after abducting them almost two weeks ago, an aid group said on Saturday.

Masked militiamen abducted the migrants on Sept. 28 from the town of al-Ajaylat, around 80 kilometers west of the capital, Tripoli, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres. The statement said that the armed group initially took hostage around 350 migrants, mainly from West Africa, but that most of the migrants managed to escape while some others were released.

The aid group said that it had notified the Libyan government’s agency for combatting illegal migration two days after the abduction, and later visited the warehouse where the migrants were held.

“We found over 350 women, children, and men sleeping on the ground in appalling living conditions without access to water, showers, or toilets,” said Guillaume Baret, MSF’s head of mission in Libya.

The militia stole valuable items and identification documents from the migrants, before taking them to a warehouse guarded by armed men in the nearby coastal city of Sabratha, the biggest launching point for the mainly African migrants who make the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean Sea, the group said.