The Med is not the only hazard that needs to be crossed by migrants from the Sahel. The Sahara is a formidable barrier that often takes its toll.
Mass grave of at least 65 migrants found
in Libya desert, UN agency says
At least 65 migrants' bodies have been discovered in a mass grave in southwest Libya, the International Organization for Migration said on social media platform X on Friday.
Issued on: Modified:
IOM said in a statement the circumstances of the migrants' death and nationalities was unknown "but it is believed that they died in the process of being smuggled through the desert."
Libya has turned into a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the Mediterranean following the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
As a conspiracy theorist, I can't help but wonder if Gaddafi's fall was meant to open the gates of Africa for migrants to invade Europe? Whether it was intentional or not, we have NATO to thank for much of the invasion. Why Europeans are embracing NATO after this, and after NATO started the war in Ukraine, it makes no sense whatsoever.
In an unverified message on Facebook, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the interior ministry in Tripoli on Monday posted drone footage of a desert area, showing white markings and yellow tape around the remains of bodies with numbers on them.
The CID said the bodies were found in al-Jahriya valley in Al Shuwairf town, about 421 km (262 miles) south of Tripoli.
Reuters could not independently verify the footage.
The department said that after taking DNA samples, all the bodies were buried in a cemetery on instructions from the attorney general of the appeals chamber in Gharyan town.
According to the IOM, at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances of migrants were recorded in 2023 along the Mediterranean route, which it described as "the deadliest migratory route."
"Without regular pathways that provide opportunities for legal migration, such tragedies will continue to be a feature along this route," said IOM.
The organisation has called on all governments and authorities along the route "to enhance regional cooperation to ensure the safety and protection of migrants."
Oil-rich Libya is home to a total of 704,369 migrants from over 43 nationalities according to data collected in 100 Libyan municipalities in mid-2023, U.N. figures show.
(Reuters)
Horror as London house is torched in ‘anti-Semitic
hate crime’: Four people are hurt and man in his 60s
‘who was making threatening comments’ arrested for ‘arson'
by Olivia Christie and Ed Holt, Daily Mail, March 21, 2024:
A fire which gutted a house in east London where four people were hurt is being investigated as a possible ‘antisemitic hate crime’, police have said.
Police have arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of starting the fire and for allegedly shouting ‘threatening comments some of which were allegedly antisemitic.’
It is believed the fire on Newick Road, Hackney, was started deliberately at around lunchtime yesterday.
The Metropolitan Police said the man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life made threatening and for making ‘allegedly antisemitic’ comments when detained.
He suffered minor injuries in the fire and is currently being treated in hospital.
Four other people were also injured in the blaze but none are in a life-threatening condition.
London Fire Brigade said eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters tackled the fire, which left the ground and first floors of the three-storey house destroyed.
Met Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway said: ‘On his arrest the man made a number of threatening comments, some of which were allegedly antisemitic.
‘We take instances of antisemitism extremely seriously and for this reason we’re investigating the incident as a potential hate crime….
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