As the unemployment rate soars, Tunisians have resorted to traveling to Libya in search of work. But their dreams quickly turn into nightmares when they are threatened with kidnapping or murder by armed factions in Libya.
A few months ago, Hatem Qasri traveled to Benghazi to work at a steel plant, in hopes of saving some money to improve his difficult financial situation. But financial security nearly cost him his life.
As the unemployment rate soars, Tunisians have resorted to traveling to Libya in search of work. But their dreams quickly turn into nightmares when they are threatened with kidnapping or murder by armed factions in Libya.
A few months ago, Hatem Qasri traveled to Benghazi to work at a steel plant, in hopes of saving some money to improve his difficult financial situation. But financial security nearly cost him his life.
On his way back to Tunisia, Qasri said an armed patrol stopped the taxi he was riding at a checkpoint to check identification. Then, several armed men asked him to get in their four-wheel drive vehicle and took him to an unknown remote location.
“They searched my clothes and bags, but they were disappointed to find a small amount of money and my mobile phone,” he said. “They threatened and slapped me and kept asking where I hid my money.”
Qasri was terrified to death by this experience and even more horrified when he saw an Egyptian worker being tortured.
Luckily Qasri managed to escape the ordeal safely as he was later released with the help of his Libyan acquaintances, whom he met there by chance and was able to return to Tunisia.
Enter at your own risk
Maher Ghrairi said his younger brother’s body was returned to his country after he traveled to Libya for work a few months ago with his friends.
A Tunisian official informed Ghrairi’s family that their son was shot dead in Libya without providing any further information about the circumstances of his death or the involved parties.
These are not isolated incidents as Tunisians only several days earlier, received the news about the kidnapping of nearly 170 Tunisians in Tripoli by Libyan armed men without any clear reason, before releasing a number of them.
Official Tunisian warning
The Tunisian Foreign Ministry urged Tunisian nationals in Libya to exercise caution and warned Tunisians against traveling to Libya in light of the increased kidnapping and homocides.
Head of the Observatory of Rights and Freedoms in Tunisia underlined, according to the intensive calls received by the Observatory by the families of the kidnapped, that the number of Tunisians who are detained in Libya has reached 800.
He also disclosed that the ‘Dawn of Libya’ forces (the Islamist groups conflicting with Haftar forces) are behind the detention operations which they say avenges the detention of one of their leaders in Tunis.
Head of the Tunisian Association in Libya Maher Ben Nasr said the detained Tunisians in Tripoli were subjected to torture and experienced harsh detention.
On the other hand, Eltohamy, Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of Arab and African affairs, said this incident is ordinary and has no gravity on the lives of Tunisians.
He also stressed that the Tunisian diplomacy will provide the necessary assistance and will follow up their situation with the concerned Libyan authorities through the Tunisian Consulate General in Tripoli.
Tunisian authorities have long faced serious criticism by some Tunisian families who accused them of not working seriously to resolve the issue of kidnapped Tunisians in Libya.
The kidnapping of Tunisian journalists Sofian Chourabi and Nazir Katari in Libya eight months ago is one of the most incendiary issues which the Tunisian authorities have failed to address so far.
