UK government loses court appeal over Syrian asylum seeker kidnapped in Libya

LONDON: The UK government was wrong when it failed to consider whether a Syrian asylum seeker held for ransom in Libya had been “exploited” under human trafficking laws, a court has ruled. The Court of Appeal decision means that refugees who have been held hostage for money on their way to the UK may be eligible for the support and recovery package that trafficking victims are entitled to, The Guardian reported. The case was brought by an unnamed Syrian national who fled his country in 2021 to avoid being conscripted into the military, which was embroiled in a brutal civil war under President Bashar Assad.