"Those people were deceived in the name of Europe. Even if they receive a sentence they will be immediately released, because their sentence will be for one month and they have been detained for more than a month," Omar Barzanji, undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Rudaw’s Soran Hussein on Sunday.
A group consisting of 16 people in total was detained in Tunisian waters in early August while trying to illegally enter into Europe. In June, Tunisia lifted visa requirements for Iraqi tourists.
Ten more people from the Kurdistan Region were detained in Tunisia recently for similar attempts, but they have all been released, according to Barzanji.
Tunisia, which is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, is a hub for many people from the Middle East and Africa seeking to cross into Italia illegally and then reach other destinations in Europe.
Every year, Tens of thousands of people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region take on perilous routes towards Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...in hope of escaping the endless crises, including the lack of employment, political instability, and corruption.