Explainer: Interpol nabs alleged Libya-based trafficker | CPT PPP Coverage
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Explainer: Interpol nabs alleged Libya-based trafficker appeared on www.al-monitor.com by Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East.
The international police organization Interpol announced this week that a major smuggler has been arrested.
Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam was arrested in Sudan in connection with the kidnapping, extortion and murder of east African migrants. Habtemariam, from Eritrea, allegedly smuggled and trafficked thousands of victims, according to a press release from Interpol.
One of the world’s most wanted human traffickers has been captured. Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam was arrested in Sudan following an international manhunt.
He’s accused of kidnapping, extorting, and murdering East African migrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea. pic.twitter.com/qeNCUkD4YT
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) January 5, 2023
Interpol convened a task force on Habtemariam along with Ethiopia, Sudan, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates last March. The collaboration allowed UAE authorities “to conduct a thorough investigation of his network and family members, identifying money laundering activities and leading to Sudan,” the release said.
It is unclear why Emirati authorities played a role in Habtemariam’s capture. Interpol did not respond to Al-Monitor’s request for comment. Emirati Gen. Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi is currently president of Interpol.
Who is Habtemariam? Habtemariam allegedly ran a camp for thousands of migrants in Libya that squeezed as much money as possible out of them on their illegal journey to Europe.
His victims were subjected to severe beatings, kidnapping, rape, and/or unlawful deprivation of liberty, read a profile from the Dutch Politiei. “Many do not survive the journey to Europe, and even if they do make it to the Netherlands, he extorts money from them by making them pay him for the next member of their family who is on their way to Europe.”
Habtemariam was an accomplice of the infamous Eritrean smuggler Tewelde Goitom, who held Eritrean, Ethiopian, Somali and Sudanese would-be migrants in Libya and raped the women. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2021, according to Al Jazeera.
Habtemariam was also arrested in Ethiopia in 2020, but escaped a year later.
Why it matters: Libya is a major transit point for people seeking to irregularly sail to Europe in search of better lives. Would-be migrants have long faced danger in Libya. Last year, a local organization accused Libyan forces of arresting migrants for a protest. The United Nations has long warned that women and children in particular face risks in Libya.
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This article originally appeared on www.al-monitor.com by Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East – sharing via newswires in the public domain, repeatedly. News articles have become eerily similar to manufacturer descriptions.
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