The Libyan Border Control on Monday located the bodies of two unidentified African migrants near the Tunisian border. The area has recently seen hundreds of migrants stranded after expulsion by Tunisian authorities. This comes after six similar bodies were found in the same vicinity on Saturday. Human Rights Watch reported that, starting July 2, Tunisian security forces have expelled several hundred black African migrants, including children and pregnant women, to a militarized buffer zone at the Libyan-Tunisian border.
In another development on the same day, 385 Pakistani migrants were freed from traffickers’ holding facilities in eastern Libya by security forces, as per Al-Abreen, a migrant rights group. These individuals, including children, had hoped to reach Europe via Libya but ended up in smugglers’ clutches. Following their rescue, the group was transferred to a nearby police station.
Libya, a major transit point for migrants seeking passage to Europe, has been mired in chaos since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, paving the way for human traffickers to exploit the instability.