ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Thirty-seven Kurdish migrants detained in Tunisia are expected to be repatriated to the Kurdistan Region within the next two days, Iraq’s ambassador to Tunisia told Rudaw.
Abdul Hakim al-Qassab noted on Monday that “all of the 37 citizens, who were detained in Tunisia, have been released and are now at our embassy,” adding that the embassy has been actively coordinating with Tunisian authorities and monitoring the migrants’ situation for several days.
The Iraqi ambassador further assured that “no effort will be spared” in accelerating the process of repatriation. He also stated that the migrants’ confiscated belongings, which had been held by a court in the coastal Tunisian town of Kelibia, will be returned.
“We will make an official request and retrieve all their money and phones,” he said.
The migrants chiefly hail from the Kurdistan Region’s eastern Sulaimani province. Their ages range from 15 to 37.
This development comes just weeks after 24 Kurdish migrants from Sulaimani’s Raparin administration, who attempted to reach Europe via Libya, were repatriated after being detained for a month.
In July, Rudaw reported on the increasing number of young people from the Raparin area choosing the Libya-Italy sea route to reach Europe. The route has become increasingly popular over the traditional Turkey-Greece corridor, due to tighter border controls and longer crossing times.
Ranj Pishdari, a Europe-based migrant rights activist, then-told Rudaw that more than 300 young people from the Kurdistan Region are estimated to use this route every week.
Meanwhile, Bakr Ali, head of the Association of Returned Refugees (ARR), explained that the Libya-Italy crossing is seen as more viable because the sea journey takes roughly eight hours, compared to the 72-hour route from Greece.
“Smugglers charge nearly $17,000 per person,” Ali said, noting that a large portion of that money goes to Libyan militia groups who control the coastal areas and do not allow migrants to depart without payment.
Rudaw previously learned that one of the most influential smugglers operating in Libya is a Kurd from Raparin, identified only by the initials H.K. Though primarily based in Europe, he has temporarily relocated to Libya to oversee smuggling operations and coordinate crossings for Kurdish migrants.
Officials and civil society groups in the Kurdistan Region have repeatedly warned against the growing migration trend, pointing to high unemployment and limited economic opportunities in the region as the main driving forces behind the surge.
