ICC Note: At least 20 Coptic Christian workers in Libya were kidnapped over the past few weeks in Libya, with the conflict ongoing in the country many have wondered why they would go there. An interview with the families shows the economic hardships that drove these men to seek employment to make a living for their families.

01/14/2015 Egypt (Watani) Some 20 Copts have been kidnapped in Libya, with no news whatsoever about their whereabouts or whether or not they are still alive

The joy of Christmas turned to chilling fear and worry for the Copts when news circulated that 20 Coptic men had been kidnapped in Sirte, Libya. Thirteen Egyptian expatriates were preparing to return to their families in Samalout, Minya, to celebrate Coptic Christmas on 7 January when they were seized in Sirte on 3 January. There is still no news of their whereabouts, nor of another seven Copts who were taken a week earlier.

Destitute villagers

Watani went to the home villages of the kidnapped Copts—al-Our, al-Gebali, Dafash, Samson, al-Sobi and Menbal—where their families live. These families live on the verge of destitution. Their homes, which are similar to one another, contain very little furniture, all of it ramshackle. Some have little but a small rug or bed. The lighting is dimmed to conserve electricity. Each house has one or two small rooms with an adjoining shed for birds and livestock: the houses line alleyways so narrow that they allow just one person with a cow to pass. The villagers live from hand to mouth; they work hard for their livelihood, which scarcely ever exceeds EGP30 (USD4.5) a day. They might work for a day and be without employment for another two, so finding work in Libya, despite the unrest there, did not appear to them to be the worst of choices.

When not working, the villagers customarily sit in front of their houses to chat, there being little to do in the way of entertainment. However, on the day that Watani visited the village there was no chatting; everyone sat in despondent silence broken only by the anguished cries of women and the weeping of the children whose fathers had disappeared in Sirte.

Heartbroken mother

Watani met the brother of Abanoub Ayad, one of the kidnapped Copts. Ibrahim Ayad said that their mother was heartbroken and her health had taken a severe downturn since she learned of her son’s kidnapping.

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