The IOM said the circumstances of death and nationalities of the migrants were not known “but it is believed that they died in the desert while being transported by illegal traffickers”.
A “mass grave” containing the bodies of at least 65 migrants was found this week in southwestern Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said today.
The IOM said the circumstances of death and nationalities of the migrants were not known “but it is believed that they died in the desert while being transported by illegal traffickers”.
An IOM spokesman told AFP that the “mass grave” was located “by the authorities responsible for security” in Libya.
The IOM also stressed that the Libyan authorities are investigating these deaths and “calls on them, as well as the United Nations partner agencies, to ensure the dignified disposal of the bodies, the identification and transfer of the remains of the dead migrants, the notification of the families them and the subscription for their help”.
In an unverified Facebook post, the Tripoli-based Libyan government’s Interior Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) released drone footage of a desert area on Monday. The footage shows white marks and a yellow band around the remains of the bodies with numbers on them.
The CID said the bodies were found in al-Jahriya Valley in al-Sufairf town, about 421km south of Tripoli.
After the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has become a transit route for migrants who, in order to escape wars and poverty, try to reach Europe.
According to the IOM Missing Migrants programme, at least 3,129 migrant deaths and disappearances were recorded in 2023 along the Mediterranean route. This is the deadliest migration route.
Source :Skai
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