- Title: Migrant girl freed from Islamic State recounts ordeal of captivity
- Date: 24th October 2016
- Summary: MISRATA, LIBYA (OCTOBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANT WOMEN AFTER THEY WERE FREED FROM ISLAMIC STATE CAPTIVITY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED TWELVE-YEAR-OLD ERITREAN MIGRANT GIRL, FREED FROM ISLAMIC STATE CAPTIVITY, SAYING: "Islamic Sate men used to rape us and we were incapable of doing anything. If we refused, they tied us down with ropes and then raped us again, and we were powerless. They did whatever they wanted to us and then sold us or threatened to hand us over to other people." VARIOUS OF WOMEN MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF MOTHER AND CHILD FREED FROM ISLAMIC STATE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED TWELVE-YEAR-OLD ERITREAN MIGRANT GIRL, FREED FROM ISLAMIC STATE CAPTIVITY, SAYING: "I prayed for death, because death would have been better than living with Islamic State, this is why we jumped from the third floor of the building." VARIOUS OF WOMEN MIGRANTS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TWELVE-YEAR-OLD ERITREAN MIGRANT GIRL, FREED FROM ISLAMIC STATE CAPTIVITY, SAYING: "I cannot describe how happy I am, but I really am very happy, and I never expected that I would be freed from Islamic State's hold. Every time we tried to escape, they would catch us, but thank God..." VARIOUS OF WOMEN MIGRANTS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TWELVE-YEAR-OLD ERITREAN MIGRANT GIRL, FREED FROM ISLAMIC STATE CAPTIVITY, SAYING: "We left our country because we were living in extreme poverty and we didn't have any money. When we reached Libya, we went through hell with Islamic State, but thank God, we're free. We entered Libya illegally through the desert and this is another problem in and of itself. I wish the world can find a solution to our problems, we want to head to Europe to keep ourselves safe, and I hope if the world can see our suffering, they could help us." MIGRANT GIRL'S EYES VARIOUS OF WOMEN MIGRANTS
- Embargoed: 8th November 2016 08:18
- Keywords: Libya migrant Islamic State Sirte freed women captivity
- Location: MISRATA, LIBYA
- City: MISRATA, LIBYA
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00155D3WHZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A 12-year-old migrant girl held by Islamic State in Libya recounted on Sunday (October 23) the conditions of her captivity.
She was among 11 female migrants freed last week along with a Turk and an Egyptian by Libyan pro-government forces fighting Islamic State in Sirte.
Now on a security base in Misrata along with her fellow former captives, the girl from Eritrea said she had been raped by Islamic State fighters.
"If we refused, they tied us down with ropes and then raped us again, and we were powerless. They did whatever they wanted to us and then sold us or threatened to hand us over to other people," she said.
The unnamed girl, who spoke wearing a veil, said she and her mother had attempted suicide during their captivity, but on their release: "I cannot describe how happy I am."
After jumping out of the third floor of a building the girl said she suffered minor injuries while her mother broke her legs.
The migrant women had illegally entered Libya through the desert, on their way to Europe about a year-and-a-half ago when they were captured by Islamic State.
They were first taken to a small cell in a village near Sirte, where they found around 86 other male and female prisoners, before being moved to Sirte itself.
"We left our country because we were living in extreme poverty and we didn't have any money," the girl said.
The captives were freed after Libyan forces on Saturday (October 22) took control of the 600 block area in Sirte.
After six months of street-by-street fighting backed by U.S. air strikes, Libyan forces have taken back most of Sirte, where Islamic State is holding out with snipers, booby traps and car bombs. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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