Libya Uncovers 50 Migrant Bodies in Mass Graves

African News

Migration agreement between Libya and Italy

Libya authorities uncovered nearly 50 bodies this week from two mass graves in the country’s southeastern desert according to officials. It's the latest tragedy involving people seeking to reach Europe through the North African country.

19 bodies were found Friday in a farm in the city of Kufra.

Authorities posted images on its Facebook page showing police officers and medics digging in the sand and recovering dead bodies that were wrapped in blankets.

Migrants’ mass graves are not uncommon in Libya. Last year, authorities unearthed the bodies of at least 65 migrants in the Shuayrif region, 350 kilometers (220 miles) south of the capital, Tripoli.

Libya is the main transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to make it to Europe. Human traffickers have benefited from more than a decade of instability, smuggling migrants across the country’s borders with six countries, including Chad, Niger, Sudan Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.