After the
women were rescued from Sirte, they were investigated for possible ties to the
group and held for several months in a Misrata prison but have now been
released by Libyan authorities.
Then in
mid-February, the Libyan attorney-general’s office announced that it had cleared
the women of any wrongdoing, but their release was delayed for several more
weeks, with no explanation given.
The group
reportedly escaped from Sirte, a former Islamic State stronghold in central
Libya, when forces from the nearby city of Misrata battled to oust the
militants late last year.
Some of the
women were said to have been on their way to Europe when the Islamic State
fighters kidnapped and held them as sex slaves.
Fortunately
on Wednesday, they were all released and received by staff from the U.N.
refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Libyan Red Crescent, before being taken to a
shelter for medical check ups.
One
14-year-old Eritrean girl said:
“I’m very
happy, I can’t describe how I feel, but I am very happy, I can start a new life
and see my family again,” she told
Reuters before leaving the prison with the rest of the group on a Red Crescent
bus.
A UNHCR
official said the entire group had scabies, but otherwise appeared to be in
reasonable physical condition. The agency says it expects to resettle the
Eritreans as refugees.
Samer
Haddadin, head of the UNHCR’s Libya mission said:
“We will
send them to a safe house where they can be treated if they need medical
treatment, and receive assistance from us, and be protected”. “At the same time
we will be processing them for refugee status determination … and we are doing
this to make sure we can find a resettlement country for those who meet the resettlement
criteria.”
The
Nigerians, five women and two children, will be able to apply for asylum or be
offered to be repatriated.
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