ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations (DFR) on Wednesday announced that 25 Kurdish migrants, who were jailed in Libya for trying to illegally cross into Europe, have been returned home.

Libya has become a main route for illegal migration to Europe. Hundreds of young men from the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and other nearby countries take this path in hopes of reaching the Italian coast. However, the would-be migrants are often caught and detained by Libyan authorities and subjected to legal measures.

In late August, the DFR announced the release of 25 migrants from Libyan prisons over 50 days after they were arrested, adding that they were working on their repatriation.

“The 25 Kurdish young men released from Libya arrived in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday morning,” announced the DFR on Wednesday.

The men were received by officials from relevant authorities, who “welcomed the young men and provided them with doctors and medical supplies.”

Srwa Rasul, director general of the KRG’s Joint Crisis Coordination Center, thanked the Chargé d'Affaires of the Iraqi embassy in Libya Ahmed al-Sahaf for his “efforts to find the young men, release them, and provide them with passports,” he also thanked Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani for “taking on the task of returning the young men.”

Salim Pasha, a senior advisor at the DFR, in late August said that “the main problem for the return of these young people is the lack of passports,” claiming that smugglers seize the migrants’ official documents, ensuring they cannot return.

The Iraqi Embassy in Libya in coordination with the KRG’s Interior Ministry was able to provide them with “crossing passports,” as well as tickets to be able to return to the Region.

Similarly, in mid-August, the Iraqi embassy, in coordination with the KRG department, was able to free and repatriate six other young men who were arrested by Libyan authorities.

The Iraqi Embassy in Libya has said their efforts continue to locate Iraqi nationals who remain in detention in the country.

Reporting by Hevi Karam