It’s published
Local aid groups said Thursday that the decomposed bodies of five suspected immigrants have been recovered in eastern Libya.
The recovery crew worked with local governments to recover the remains, located about 550 kilometres south of Tobruk, in an area called the Great Sandsea.
According to Red Crescent, the recovered bodies were taken to Tobruk. It said it was one of the “tragedy, the so-called “death journey,” that embodies the serious dangers faced by migrants traveling the desert.
Abreen, a local aid group tracking immigrant deaths in Libya, said in a statement that the bodies are likely to be immigrants from Sudan.
The group posted photos of the recovery operations, including those showing disassembled body clothing.
Libya, which shares borders with six countries and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean, was the main transport system for migrants seeking to reach Europe, which is fleeing escape and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
Most have to embark on dangerous trips on land and at sea.
Drunk incidents near the country’s coast are common. In December, at least 61 migrants, including women and children, died in their home from the town of Zwara on Libya’s west coast.
In May, Sudanese immigrants died after 34 people broke down in the Libyan desert after crossing the border from Chad, said Ebrahim Berhassan, director of Kuhula Ambulance and Emergency Services.
They were found in the dunes 11 days later, and they ran out of food and water, he said.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that as of 2024, approximately 787,000 migrants and refugees from various nationalities living in Libya.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said 32,400 refugees and migrants crossed from Libya to Europe in 2021.
In April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed increasing staffing at Frontex, the EU’s external borders and coast guard agency, by 30,000.
Additional sources •AP