Libya: Mass grave including at least 65 migrants discovered

Using the social media site X, which was previously Twitter, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) announced on Friday that the remains of at least 65 migrants had been found in a mass grave in southwest Libya.

The IOM states that the causes of the fatalities “remain unknown.”
“However, it is thought that they perished while being smuggled across the desert,” the agency said in a statement, expressing its “deep shock and alarm.”
The IOM expressed gratitude to Libyan authorities for opening an inquiry into the fatalities. They were asked to inform and support their relatives, as well as “ensure a dignified recovery, identification, and transfer of the remains of the deceased migrants.”
What say the authorities in Libya?
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Interior Ministry in Tripoli shared drone images of a desert region on Monday, showing yellow tape and white marks around the remains of numbered individuals. The post was made in an unconfirmed Facebook message.
According to the CID, the remains were discovered near the village of Al Shuwairf in the al-Jahriya Valley, some 421 kilometres (262 miles) south of Tripoli.
The agency said that all of the remains were interred in a cemetery after the collection of DNA samples.
The primary routes used by migrants to get to Europe
The most deadly migration path
Following Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011, Libya evolved into a hub for migrants heading to Europe who were escaping poverty and violence.
At least 3,129 migrants are reported to have perished or vanished in 2023 while travelling across the Mediterranean route, which the IOM has termed “the deadliest migratory route.”
Data gathered in 100 Libyan localities in mid-2023 revealed that there are 704,369 migrants living in Libya, representing over 43 different countries, the UN claimed.