LONDON: Hundreds of migrants from Iraqi Kurdistan making the journey to the UK last year were kidnapped in Libya, tortured and threatened with forced organ removal, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
The more than 300 young men were detained by a militia that demanded a ransom of $5,000 each from their families and threatened to harvest their kidneys in case of late payment.
Photo evidence and verbal accounts recorded by the BBC suggest that some of the threatened operations took place.
Almost 180 of the migrants were made to share a cell in extremely cramped conditions, survivors said. At least one died, and it is unclear how many remain in captivity in Libya.
The militia had intended to guide the migrants through dangerous territory in Libya to the Mediterranean for crossing.
