Dutch woman eager to return to Libya after arrest, deportation

Yvonne Snijtjer wants to return to Libya as soon as possible, she said to newspaper AD upon her arrival in the Netherlands on Tuesday. The Dutch woman was arrested in the Libyan capital of Tripoli at the end of May and deported on Monday, but she does not plan to stay in the Netherlands. "My heart is there, it has become my home. Even though it pains me to say so, because I'm also Dutch", she said to the newspaper.

Snijter gave her family and friends quite a scare when she suddenly disappeared late in May. It later turned out that she had been arrested. According to her, she was arrested for sitting in her car on the side of the road. "I was there because the internet was better there than in my apartment. They wanted to know what I was doing there on the side of the road."

According to the 48-year-old woman, she was never treated poorly. "I spent two in a half weeks in custody, alone in a cell. I was confident that it would work out well", she said. "At one point they even left the door of my cell open because they trusted me. They questioned me twice about what I was doing in Libya, and everything seemed to be in order. But after around five days, there was a kink in the cable. Perhaps it had to do with the interference of the Netherlands."

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs did its best to get into contact with Snijter. After spending around 10 days in custody, she had three people visiting on behalf of the Netherlands.

"I immediately told them: I don't want anyone communicating this to the outside world, the only one communicating is me. I was afraid that there would be a hassle. Unfortunately it came out, and I saw many untruths going around. I left for Libya on my own responsibility. That was my choice and my own responsibility, and I also made that clear at my departure."