'Pay or he dies', families told as more Egyptians risk Mediterranean crossing

Relatives hold portraits of Ahmed Kamel (29), Adel Hamed (37), and Mohamed Abdelsamad (32), who are believed to have gone missing in the Mediterranean sea, during an interview at the Abdallah Aziza village in Egypt on January 21, 2026. [AFP]

Weeks after Hamdy Ibrahim left his village in Egypt's Nile Delta hoping to reach Europe, his brother's phone rang with a chilling message from Libya: pay now or the boy would die.