In Libya... Syrians Sentenced for Kidnapping and Extorting Migrants

A Libyan court has sentenced two Syrian expatriates to 8 years in prison on charges of kidnapping and holding undocumented Egyptian migrants in order to obtain ransom for their release. The Public Prosecutor's Office stated in a Tuesday announcement that the Appeals Court in the capital, Tripoli, decided in its latest session to convict the Syrian defendants and imprison them after they deliberately confined the freedom of three undocumented Egyptian migrants to compel their families to pay money for their release. This incident is a small example of the dozens of crimes and violations faced by migrants coming from Arab and African countries to Libya, both inside detention centers and outside, during their journey towards the Libyan shores with the aim of crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.