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This Facebook post, with an image purportedly of migrants freed from captivity in southeast Libya in May 2024, is PARTLY FALSE.

The Somali text accompanying the photo reads, 107 migrants, mostly Somalis forcibly freed from captivity in southeast Libya.

The image depicts a group of people sitting on the ground while an armed soldier keeps guard.

The image was also featured in articles on Somali websites, here and here.

On 6 May 2024, the spokesperson for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Benghazi, Libya, Walid Alorafi, reported that at least 107 migrants, mainly from Somalia, including women and children, were freed from captivity in a town in southeast Libya. This was after security forces raided a hideout in the downtown of Kufra.

A Google reverse image search shows the photo was taken in Libya, but is unrelated to the recent release of migrants who were all handed over to the illegal migration agency.

Deutsche Welle published the image in July 2016 and again in November 2017 in an article titled Caught between duty and temptation.

The image has also been featured in other publications, as seen here and here.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that Libya is home to 704,369 migrants from over 43 nationalities, according to data collected in 100 Libyan municipalities in mid-2023.

PesaCheck has looked into a post on Facebook claiming to show a photo of migrants freed from captivity in southeast Libya in May 2024 and found it to be PARTLY FALSE.

Link:
PARTLY FALSE: This photo is not of migrants freed from captivity in southeast Libya in May 2024 - PesaCheck