18 Iraqi Kurdish migrants missing
LIBYA – Two news reports published by the Iraqi news website The New Region and the Iraqi Kurdish network Rudaw have reported on the disappearance of 18 Kurdish irregular migrants.
Possible match among 67 bodies in Libya
According to the reports, followed and summarised by Al-Marsad, the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq is working to identify missing Kurdish irregular migrants among the bodies of 67 people who drowned and were found in Libya.
Contact lost on the journey to Europe via Libya
The reports added that contact with the 18 migrants was lost while they were travelling to Europe via Libya.
DNA samples taken from relatives of the missing
They quoted Abubakir Ali, head of the Association of Returned Refugees from Europe, as saying that the bodies of the 67 migrants were currently in Libyan morgues, and that a medical team had been working for several days with the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Interior and, having taken DNA samples from relatives of the missing, was awaiting the results.
Coordination with the Libyan authorities
The reports also quoted Pascal Reyntjens, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) mission in Iraq, as saying that his office was coordinating with the Libyan authorities to identify Kurdish and Iraqi migrants reported dead or missing after perilous attempts to cross the Mediterranean.
Contacts include the Attorney General’s office
Reyntjens added that his office was in contact with the IOM office in Libya, which in turn was in contact with the Libyan authorities, including the Attorney General, to obtain information on those found dead at sea and, on a preliminary basis, on those still missing.
