ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Eleven Kurdish migrants stranded in Libya were returned to the Kurdistan Region on Friday, bringing the total number of repatriated Kurds from the country since September to 44.

The repatriated men are from Sulaimani province’s Raparin administration and reportedly traveled to Libya around two months ago.

Ali Saeed, the data and information director at the Kurdistan Region’s interior ministry, said that Prime Minister Masrour Barzani ordered swift measures be taken to repatriate the young men after receiving news that they had gone missing in Libya.

“We made all preparations to receive and facilitate their return, and we received the youth this morning at dawn,” Saeed told The New Region on Friday.

“After receiving medical checkups by the teams at the airport, they were handed over to their families,” he added.

Salim Pasha, a senior advisor at the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations (DFR), accompanied the young men on their return flight to Erbil International Airport.

The 11 individuals are part of a larger batch of migrants from Raparin who went missing in Libya in recent months.

“Our efforts continue to find the whereabouts of the other 10 youth from the [Raparin] area,” Saeed added.

In September, 33 Kurdish migrants who had gone missing in Libya were returned to the Kurdistan Region, in an effort by the DFR under the directive of Prime Minister Barzani, and in coordination with the Iraqi Embassy in Tripoli.

At least 346 Kurdish migrants have been repatriated from Libya in recent years.

Many migrants trekking the perilous journey to Europe use the Libyan waterways to reach Italy through smuggling routes, often using boats that are not seaworthy and are prone to capsizing in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Iraqi government has routinely warned of the dangers of illegal migration, with Libya having gained popularity in recent years as a major transit hub on the journey to Europe. Not counting individuals from the Kurdistan Region, more than 50 Iraqi migrants have been returned to the country in recent years.