The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has confirmed that a group of 35 people, mainly women and children from Eritrea who were held for nearly six months after fleeing a former Islamic State group stronghold in Libya, have been released (see earlier entry) .
They were freed on the orders of the General Attorney in the Libyan port city of Misrata.
Their ordeal began last year when they were held by IS fighters who took control of eastern Sirte.
After escaping the city, they were investigated for possible links to the jihadists.
They had continued to be detained even though Libyan officials cleared them of any wrongdoing in February.
28 of the group were from Eritrea and seven from Nigeria, the UN confirmed.
UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told the BBC:
The group had been held hostage by ISIS in Sirte until December 2016, when the Libyan authorities captured the city and took the refugees and migrants to a detention facility in Misrata. They are now under UNHCR’s protection in a temporary shelter in Misrata where they are receiving support, counselling and assistance from us and other humanitarian organisations working in Libya. UNHCR is working on finding a permanent solution to the plight of these women, children and men in need of protection who have gone through such a painful ordeal and are in a very vulnerable situation.”
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