Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria experiencing harsh living conditions in Libya

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) The action group for Palestinians in Syria said that Palestinian refugees fleeing war-torn Syria were experiencing cruel living conditions in Libya.The group said in a statement on Wednesday that some of those refugees were kidnapped or murdered by armed Libyan militias, adding that the refugees are experiencing tragic living conditions due to Libya’s security instability.The group quoted a refugee as saying that he was kidnapped and beaten by an armed group that stole his belongings and money. He said that they then called his brother and asked for ransom after threatening to kill him within 24 hours.In another incident, a Palestinian young man was kidnapped and severely beaten a few days ago by a group of armed men that stole his money, the group said.It said that these two incidents were only a small fraction of what the refugees were subjected to in that country.The group pointed to legal difficulties suffered by those refugees especially those who entered the country illegally, which made them take the risk of trying to reach Europe via what came to be called “death boats”.It noted that among 80,000 to 100,000 Syrian refugees who entered Libya there were 5,000 Palestinian refugees, who were registered with the high commissioner for refugees, adding that the figure decreased to 2,000 after dozens of boats took many of those refugees to Europe./149