http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11655543/86-Eritrean-migrants-kidnapped-by-Isil-in-Libya.html
86 Eritrean migrants 'kidnapped by Isil' in Libya
Isil militants believed to have kidnapped 86 Eritrean refugees from a
smugglers' caravan in western Libya
Louisa Loveluck in Cairo
By Louisa Loveluck
6:36PM BST 05 Jun 2015
Militants from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) are
believed to have kidnapped 86 Eritrean refugees from a smugglers'
caravan in westernLibya.
The militants struck at dawn on Wednesday morning, stopping the
vehicle before separating Christian refugees from their Muslim
counterparts, according to Meron Estafanos, the co-founder of the
Stockholm-based International Commission on Eritrean Refugees.
Many of the refugees – among them 12 women – were forced to lie about
their faith. Those who claimed to be Muslim were grilled on their
knowledge of the Koran, as well as their prayer habits.
Wednesday's kidnapping bears chilling echoes of a similar incident in
April when Isil militants kidnapped 79 Eritrean and Ethiopian
Christian refugees. Days later, more than thirty of the men were
beheaded or shot dead in scrubland while young survivors were forced
to watch.
Details of Wednesday's attack will emerge in the coming days as a
handful of escapees tell their stories. At least nine men were able to
dive silently from the back of the jihadists' speeding truck.
According to Mrs Estafanos, who has spoken to some of the men, the
hostages mostly hail from the Eritrean town of Adi Keyih. "Those who
escaped are in the middle of nowhere right now and we need to get them
to a safer place – but it is hard while there are no NGOs there, no
one able to help," said Ms Estafanos.
"If it is known they were taken by (Isil), no one will protect them."
After formally announcing the establishment of three Isil-run
"provinces" across Libya, the jihadists are solidifying their grip
over chunks of territory through a mix of spectacular violence and
strict implementation of their clerics' rulings.
This is at least the third time in three months that Eritrean migrants
in Libya have been targeted by the militants. Reports emerged earlier
this week that two Eritrean refugees has been shot dead after the
jihadists stopped a truck carrying 75 African migrants. Once again,
the passengers were separated according to their faith before the
killings were carried out.
Twenty two per cent of people entering Italy by boat in 2014 were from
Eritrea, according to the UN, a statistic prompted by "ruthless
repression" in their home country.
Rights abuses perpetrated by Eritrea's government, coupled with dismal
economic prospects, are driving hundreds of people out of the country
every day, according to an interim report by the UN's commission of
inquiry on human rights in Eritrea.
Received on Sun Jun 07 2015 - 13:29:06 EDT