Libyan authorities have recovered at least 50 migrants’ bodies seeking to reach Europe through the region from two different mass graves in the North African country.
As gathered, 28 bodies were exhumed in a desert in south-east Libya, while the rest were uncovered on a farm north of Kufra.
According to the Attorney General, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour, in a statement yesterday, these decomposing bodies were found following a raid on a human trafficking site, where authorities freed 76 migrants who had been detained and tortured.
He added that one Libyan and two foreigners were arrested following their involvement in the burning of these migrants.
“There was a gang whose members deliberately deprived illegal migrants of their freedom, tortured them and subjected them to cruel, humiliating and inhumane treatment,” he said.
Furthermore, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour noted the bodies recovered have been taken for autopsy, with investigators suspecting links to smuggling networks.
The head of the security chamber in Kufra, Mohamed al-Fadeil, disclosed that reports from survivors indicated that nearly 70 people were buried in that site, and authorities were still searching the area.
Al-Abreen, a charity that helps migrants and refugees in eastern and southern Libya, said that some of the people found in the mass graves had been shot and killed before they were buried.
Mass graves containing the bodies of asylum seekers have previously been discovered in Libya, the main transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to make it to Europe.
Last year, authorities unearthed the bodies of at least 65 migrants in the Shuayrif region, south of the capital Tripoli.
Since the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has become a key transit route for migrants risking dangerous desert and Mediterranean Sea crossings to reach Europe.
Unicef has said that in 2024 the number of people who died or went missing in the Mediterranean, trying to reach Europe, surpassed 2,200.
