Between 2009 and 2014, there were large numbers of refugees who were kidnapped and held in Sinai. Refugees from various countries were transported to Sinai and held hostage by members of Bedouin tribes. Typically, the hostages were forced to give up phone numbers of relatives and were tortured with the relatives on the phone, in order to obtain ransoms in the range of $20,000–$40,000. If the families couldn't pay, the hostages were killed.