Twenty-Seven Migrants Found Dead in Libyan Desert

Libyan authorities found 27 bodies of migrants dead since the beginning of the migration crisis in July.

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Since July, there has been an increase in the flow of migrants arriving in Libya from Tunisia. The Libyan National Human Rights Committee believes that many of the migrants arriving at its borders from the neighboring country may have been forcibly expelled, forcing them to spend days in the desert without any possibility of survival.

This situation has generated a state of permanent alarm in Libyan humanitarian organizations, which have activated their protocols for the case and have systematically gone to the border area to assist those affected.

The Libyan Ministry of Interior reported that humanitarian organizations present at the border have been able to assist several migrants on the field. It added in the statement that the Libyan Border Guard has intensified "security patrols along the border strip with Tunisia, with the aim of combing the area to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants."

This year, the Tunisian government has intensified its usual practice of expelling migrants to the country's borders. In many cases, they are forcibly transported to the coastal areas. According to the testimony of many migrants, these transfers may include deliberate abandonment in the desert. 

Researcher Lauren Seibert, who works for the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, in a contact with migrants expelled to the desert in July denounced to the media that "This is clearly against international law. Other countries in the region have been doing this for a long time. It is very worrying that Tunisia is now apparently joining in this inhumane practice," Seibert added.

Thanks to the humanitarian organizations present, it has been possible to relocate hundreds of them, actions that are being carried out under the monitoring and auspices of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

For its part, the Tunisian government has denied any responsibility for the events, assuring that the country has been exposed to an uncontrolled and massive arrival of sub-Saharan immigrants, while they have been exposed to a malicious campaign that misinforms the reality of what is happening.

The crisis began at the beginning of July, when at least 1,200 migrants and asylum seekers of sub-Saharan origin were detained in mass raids in the city of Sfax, the main starting point of the migratory route by sea, and expelled to border areas, also with neighboring Algeria.