On Friday, the Indian authorities rescued four people from Libya. Parvesh Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Rohit, and Sukhwinder Singh, the nationals, returned to Delhi on Friday morning.
“They (mafias) used to keep water bottles in front of us, but we were not allowed to drink until our task was complete,” says 19-year-old Manpreet Singh while recalling the hardship endured by him and other Indian nationals in Libya after being “sold as labour.”
These young men traveled to Libya in February of this year after false travel agencies promised them jobs in Italy. They were all taken from India to Dubai and subsequently to Egypt in February 2023.
They were landed in Libya and held in Zuwara City after a few days. These young guys, visibly disturbed and shocked, recalled their harrowing experiences in the North African country, where they had to survive on a meager supper of bread, suffered frequent punishment for missed deadlines, and were sold as labor many times.
Last month, Indian officials rescued 17 Indian youngsters from Libya, the most of whom were from the Punjab and Haryana regions.
“We were sold to the mafia, who were engaged in the labour work at construction sites. They (mafia) used to keep a bottle of water in front of us but we were not allowed to drink before completing our task. We faced a lot of hardships. They used to give us only one or two slices of bread. We were sold many times,” said Manpreet Singh.