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Bodies of 19 Egyptian migrants found in Libyan desert

July 9, 2017

The Red Crescent humanitarian body has said it recovered the decomposed bodies of 19 Egyptian migrants. They appear to have been smuggled into Libya but it remained unclear where they were going when they died.

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Migrants in the Libya desert
Tens of thousands of African migrants cross through the blistering Libyan desert every month Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Turkia

Red Crescent spokesman Khaled al-Raqi said on Sunday that the 19 people had been found in the Jaghboub desert, some 400 km (250 miles) south of the Libyan port city of Tobruk on the Egyptian border.

They appear to have perished due to high temperatures and hunger, Raqi added. It was unclear when they died, although their bodies were in a state of decomposition when they were recovered on Saturday.

Read more: Amnesty warns that 'reckless' EU policy puts Mediterranean migrants at risk

Television network Libya Alaan broadcast footage of Red Crescent workers loading the corpses into black body bags.

Seven of the deceased migrants were identified by their papers and identity cards, while the remaining 12 were believed to have also been Egyptian, based on their appearance, Raqi said.

The Egyptian embassy said it was working to confirm the identities of the 12 people. It remained unclear, however, whether the bodies were subsequently buried or if they would be repatriated to Egypt.

It was also unclear if the 19 migrants had intended to cross through Libya and embark by boat into Europe. While thousands of Egyptians have attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea from western Libya, for decades many have looked for work in the country's oil industry.

Libya's smuggling economy

However, very few Egyptians have looked to move to Libya since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 and the subsequent political chaos and civil war that has riven the country.

Read more: Italy warns of social upheaval as UN sees more migrant arrivals from Libya

Since the outbreak of the migrant crisis, smugglers have exploited Libya's instability, transforming it from an oil-rich economy into Africa's main gateway for migrants attempting to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing into Europe.

This week, the UN's refugee agency's (UNHCR) reveled that more than 85,000 migrants had crossed the Mediterranean into Italy this year alone, a 20 percent increase from the same time last year. The UNHCR also warned that the influx of migrants from Africa into Europe showed few signs of abating any time soon.

Rescue organizations in Italy under pressure

dm/jm (AFP, Reuters)