ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Region has repatriated over 300 migrants en route to Europe from African countries since the beginning of 2025, a refugee association said on Sunday, with an increasing number of Kurds taking the Libya route.  

Bakr Ali, head of the Association of Returned Refugees, told Iraq’s state newspaper that the Kurdistan Region’s Department of Foreign Relations “has been working continuously since the beginning of the year to secure the release of detainees who attempted to migrate illegally to Europe.”

Ali revealed that 319 Kurdish migrants were repatriated from Libya and Tunisia, adding, however, that "approximately 50 migrants remain detained in some countries, and the government is working to secure their release and return to the Region."

Iraq’s embassy in Libya announced last week that 40 Kurdish migrants from Sulaimani have been returned home from Tripoli to Erbil as part of ongoing efforts to repatriate citizens stranded abroad.

In September, the KRG's Department of Foreign Relations announced the return of 25 Kurdish migrants who had been imprisoned in Libya after attempting to cross into Europe illegally.

Thousands of migrants try to cross the deadly Mediterranean Sea illegally every year in search of a better life in Europe and the UK, with a large number of them coming from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the Kurdish areas of Syria, Iran, and Turkey.

Some of those who trek the perilous journey use the Libyan waterways to reach Italy through smuggling routes. 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in July announced that they were notified of at least 17 Kurdish migrants having gone missing in Libya, adding that Erbil was not aware whether they were arrested or abducted. 

Over 700,000 migrants were registered in Libya last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).