(Libya's flag)
About 17 Egyptian Coptic Christians are said to be missing in Libya since September 30. They are suspected to have been kidnapped by armed men or detained the country’s authorities for their faith, according to International Christian Concern, a United States-based persecution watchdog organization Before they went missing, the Coptic Christians were said to be living in an Egyptian neighborhood in Tripoli where ISIS beheaded 21 Coptic Christians in 2015.
“The Copts were staying in the Gargash District in Tripoli. In this residency, they were surrounded by so many persons of other countries like India and Bangladesh. So the action of detaining 17 Copts only is such a mysterious action! We are fearing of repeating an incident like the one who did by ISIS. We are contacting the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to intervene in the situation,” a friend and lawyer to one of the missing Copts said.
It has been said that several Coptic Christians still enter Libya looking for jobs although they are aware that they will become victims of persecution and their lives can also be threatened.
“We know it is more likely we will die than live in Libya but we don't have a choice. … More and more people are going to Libya because of the economic crisis here. You can't get work, you can't make money in Egypt. We are aware of the dangers, particularly as Christians,” The Sunday Times quoted a Christian to have said.
There were reports of 21 Coptic Christians being beheaded in Libya in 2015 by the Islamic State. The country’s interior ministry confirmed the news in 2017 saying that they had found a mass grave of the beheaded bodies. The discovery was made after an ISIS prisoner confessed the killings of the group.
ISIS had the Copts hostage in different times from December 2014 to January 2015 in Libya. A video showing how the Copts were killed was released by the terrorist group on February 15, 2015.
The families of the beheaded Christians had told ICC that they were proud that those who were killed stood their ground by refusing to deny Christ despite facing death.
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