Hoping for a better life, migrants attempt to cross the dangerous routes of the desert and the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.
At least 29 migrants’ bodies have been recovered in Libya, according to the country’s Security Directorate and the Libyan Red Crescent. The bodies were found in two different locations in the southeastern and western parts of the country.
This information was reported by news agency Reuters on Friday (February 7).
In a statement, the Al-Wahat District Security Directorate said that a mass grave containing 19 bodies was discovered on a farm in the Zighara area, about 441 kilometers from Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi. It was also mentioned that these deaths were related to human trafficking activities.
The Libyan Security Directorate posted images of the recovered bodies on Facebook, showing police officers and volunteers from the Jalu Red Crescent placing the bodies in black plastic bags.
Separately, the Libyan Red Crescent posted on Facebook on Thursday night that their volunteers recovered 10 bodies of migrants from the port of Dila in Zawiya, about 40 kilometers from the capital, Tripoli, after a boat capsized.
The Red Crescent also shared images showing volunteers placing the bodies in white plastic bags at the dockside.
The Al-Wahat District Security Directorate stated, “A total of three graves were found on the farm. One contained a single body, the second had four bodies, and the third contained 14 bodies. The bodies have been referred to forensic doctors for necessary examinations.”
Since the NATO-backed uprising in 2011 that ousted and killed Libya’s long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, the country has emerged as a crucial transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty from parts of Africa and the Middle East.
Many migrants, hoping for a better life, attempt to cross the perilous routes of the desert and the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. However, many die while trying to navigate the hazardous Sahara Desert and this dangerous migration route.
At the end of January, the Al-Wahat Criminal Investigation Department reported that they had freed 263 migrants of various Sub-Saharan African nationalities. These migrants had been held by a smuggling network under extremely poor human and health conditions.
