Authorities in Libya have apprehended hundreds of illegal immigrants, including 25 Egyptian children between the ages of 11 and 17, who were attempting to travel to Italy via the Libyan coast.
The immigrants were discovered in a shelter in Tobruk before they could depart for Italy, with most of the children coming from a single village in the north of Egypt’s Sharqia Governorate.
According to reports, the families of these children paid between 100,000 and 130,000 Egyptian pounds to Libyan and Egyptian intermediaries to transport them to Italy for work.
The immigrants arrived in Libya three months ago and were planning to set sail for the Italian coast in eight days on a boat operated by illegal immigration gangs.
The Libyan authorities have decided to deport the children to Egypt and hand them over to Egyptian authorities, and Libyan media outlets have published photos of the children after their arrest.
Recently, an illegal immigration boat carrying hundreds of young immigrants sank off the coast of Greece, resulting in the loss of dozens of lives, including Egyptians.
The boat was reportedly owned by a Libyan named Mohammed Abu Sultan, who, along with his brothers, smuggled illegal immigrants from Tobruk in Libya to the coast of Italy. One of Abu Sultan’s boats nearly sank a month ago, but divine intervention saved the passengers.
According to the relatives of the Egyptian victims, those who wish to immigrate illegally are gathered by representatives of the Libyan smuggler who charge each individual from Egypt 140,000 Egyptian pounds (equivalent to $4,600). Some of these representatives are known to the victims’ families by name.
The smugglers’ route begins with the gathering of young people and their transport to the Libyan side through specific paths via the Egyptian intermediary. After they arrive at the Libyan border, they are handed over to another group who take their phones and money before moving them from one shelter to another until the time of their departure, before they are eventually transported to Tobruk one or two days before the departure date.
