LONDON — An investigation into the fate of more than 300 Kurdish migrants, who sought to cross into the United Kingdom using illegal routes, has exposed a horrifying human trafficking and organ-harvesting ring operating in war-torn, militia-controlled Libya.
More than 300 migrants heading to the UK last summer were kidnapped, tortured and threatened with forced organ removal, according to the investigation carried out by the BBC.
The young men, all from Iraqi Kurdistan, were captured in Libya by a militia who demanded a ransom of $5,000 (£3,700) from each of their families, and threatened to harvest the captives’ kidneys if payment was not made promptly.
The investigators spoke to some hostages who have since been released, and saw photo evidence suggesting that forced operations did take place.
The former captives showed BBC evidence of torture, and said they had been kept in cramped conditions, with nearly 180 people sharing a cell.
At least one hostage is known to have died, and it is unclear how many remain captive.
The militia was supposed to be guiding the migrants through Libya to the Mediterranean coast. However, a dispute over payment had broken out with the Iraqi Kurd people-smuggler, Noah Aaron, who had organized the migrants’ journey.
Aaron is now serving a 10-year prison sentence in France for separate money laundering and smuggling offenses.
Details of the kidnappings emerged during a recent BBC investigation into another smuggler, Kardo Jaf, which led to his arrest last month.
The two smugglers are believed to have worked together in the past. Both are from the town of Ranya in Iraqi Kurdistan — a region “riddled with active smuggling networks”, according to a report by the UK think tank, Chatham House.
In February, a BBC investigative team was making inquiries about Jaf in Ranya, when they were approached by a local man who said his son had been one of the men held.
The man said Aaron’s smuggling gang had charged his family thousands of dollars for organising the journey to the UK, which would involve travelling through northern Africa, then across the Mediterranean into Europe.
The route would pass through Libya, a country with a “huge vacuum of government”, according to Anthony Dunkerley, a UN adviser who has investigated human trafficking there.
Much of Libya is controlled by rival militias, and smuggling networks rely on their co-operation.
In the summer of 2025, successive groups of migrants who had flown into Libya from Iraqi Kurdistan were taken to a guarded compound and imprisoned.
The militia then demanded $5,000 for each hostage, claiming Aaron had failed to pay it for a previous deal. If the money was not delivered quickly, families were warned, payment would be taken “with a kidney”.
The Libyans also sent photos and videos of the hostages, many of which were distressing or violent. In one, a young man was filmed while being told he was being taken to a doctor to have his kidney removed.
The local man who approached the BBC in Ranya said he had paid the ransom. His son was among 110 hostages flown home in January, on a plane organised by the Iraqi government. However, he showed a photo he said his son had sent while in captivity, displaying a raw scar they feared was from a forced organ removal.
Dozens more people came forward, many showing similar phone pictures.
Kidnapping for ransom has been widely documented along migration routes through Libya. Criminal groups are able to exploit limited state control in some areas, says Dunkerley, making investigations and prosecutions particularly challenging.
Many of the hostages have now been released. Some families paid the ransom promptly, but Kurdish authorities suspect other hostages may have paid with their internal organs.
Libya is one of the world’s most dangerous corridors for human trafficking. The oil-rich nation has struggled with prolonged political instability and conflict since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that led to the overthrow and death of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
The revolt, which emerged during the wider Arab Spring, triggered years of civil unrest, factional violence, and foreign intervention. More than a decade later, Libya continues to grapple with the consequences of that turmoil, creating conditions that have enabled human trafficking networks to flourish.
Source: Saudi Gazette