'Pay ransom or lose a kidney': Illegal migrants bound for UK kidnapped in Libya

More than 300 migrants heading to the UK last summer were kidnapped, tortured and threatened with forced organ removal, the BBC has learned.

The young men, all from Iraqi Kurdistan, were captured in Libya by a militia who demanded a ransom of $5,000 (£3,700) from each of their families, and threatened to harvest the captives' kidneys if payment was not made promptly.

We have spoken to some hostages who have since been released, and seen photo evidence suggesting that forced operations did take place.

The former captives showed us evidence of torture, and said they had been kept in cramped conditions, with nearly 180 people sharing a cell.

At least one hostage is known to have died, and it is unclear how many remain captive.

The militia was supposed to be guiding the migrants through Libya to the Mediterranean coast. However, a dispute over payment had broken out with the Iraqi Kurd people-smuggler, Noah Aaron, who had organised the migrants' journey.

Aaron is now serving a 10-year prison sentence in France for separate money laundering and smuggling offences.

Details of the kidnappings emerged during a recent BBC investigation into another smuggler, Kardo Jaf, which led to his arrest last month.

The two smugglers are believed to have worked together in the past. Both are from the town of Ranya in Iraqi Kurdistan - a region "riddled with active smuggling networks", according to a report by the UK think tank, Chatham House.

In February, a BBC investigative team was making inquiries about Jaf in Ranya, when they were approached by a local man who said his son had been one of the men held.

The man told the BBC that Aaron's smuggling gang had charged his family thousands of dollars for organising the journey to the UK, which would involve travelling through northern Africa, then across the Mediterranean into Europe.

The route would pass through Libya, a country with a "huge vacuum of government", according to Anthony Dunkerley, a UN adviser who has investigated human trafficking there.

Much of Libya is controlled by rival militias, and smuggling networks rely on their co-operation.

We learned that, during the summer of 2025, successive groups of migrants who had flown into Libya from Iraqi Kurdistan were taken to a guarded compound and imprisoned.

The militia then demanded $5,000 for each hostage, claiming Aaron had failed to pay it for a previous deal. If the money was not delivered quickly, families were warned, payment would be taken "with a kidney".

The Libyans also sent photos and videos of the hostages, many of which were distressing or violent. In one, a young man was filmed while being told he was being taken to a doctor to have his kidney removed.