Libyan security forces uncovered a mass grave in the country’s south-west this week holding at least 65 bodies, according to the International Organization for Migration, the UN migration agency. An IOM spokesperson confirmed the find to AFP on Friday.
Who the dead were and how they died is still unknown. The IOM believes they died while being smuggled through the desert toward the Mediterranean. The agency said it was “profoundly shocked and alarmed.”
“Each report of a missing migrant or a loss of life represents a grieving family searching for answers about their loved ones or acknowledging the tragedy of the loss,” an IOM spokesperson said. “The cost of inadequate action is evident in the increasing human deaths and the disturbing conditions migrants find themselves in.”
What the IOM is asking for
The Geneva-based agency said it appreciated that Libyan authorities had opened an investigation into the deaths. It asked them, together with UN partner agencies, to “ensure a dignified recovery, identification and transfer of the remains of the deceased migrants” and to notify and assist their families.
The IOM tied the discovery to broader policy. The deaths, it said, show “the urgent need to address the challenges of irregular migration including through a coordinated response to the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons.” It added that “without regular pathways that provide opportunities for legal migration, such tragedies will continue to be a feature along this route.” It also urged governments and authorities along the route to “enhance regional cooperation to ensure the safety and protection of migrants, regardless of their status, and across all stages of their journeys.”
The IOM provides humanitarian help to vulnerable people in Libya. It also trains local actors in life-saving search and rescue in the desert and works to make border management operations protection-oriented.
A deadly year behind it
Libya is one of the main departure points for people trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The grave came soon after at least 60 migrants who set off from the Libyan coast died when a rubber dinghy got into trouble at sea.
Earlier in March the IOM said 2023 was the deadliest year for migrants since records began a decade ago. At least 8,565 people died on migration routes worldwide, a figure 20% higher than the year before. On the Mediterranean route to Europe, the world’s deadliest, the Missing Migrants Project recorded at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances in 2023, a count that does not include the Libya grave.
Sources
- At least 65 migrant bodies found in Libya mass grave, says UN
- Discovery of Mass Grave with 65 Migrant Bodies in Libya – Libya
- TRT World – Libya mass grave reveals at least 65 bodies of asylum seekers: UN
