Libyan Border Guards have announced that they are continuing to conduct desert patrols in the western region of the country, to combat criminal activity such as smuggling.
According to a statement, patrols were conducted on Tuesday in the area stretching from Wadi Abu Geila to Wadi Gourida in western Libya. The patrols reached Wadi Al-Muritim, where there are roads and routes known to be used for smuggling.
The patrols are part of ongoing efforts to combat criminal activity and maintain security in the region. They have been conducting regular patrols and operations to combat smuggling, illegal immigration, and other criminal activities.
Earlier this week, Libyan Border Guards rescued migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, who were left without food, water, or shelter in a remote desert area near the Tunisian border, an official told the AFP.
They transferred them to the Tunisian authorities, after finding them in the scorching heat, where some of them said they had been “left to die.”
In the past few days, at least six men, and a group of women and children were found in temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
The migrants were lost in an uninhabited area near the town of Al-Asha, about 150 kilometers southwest of Tripoli, and about 15 kilometers from the Libyan-Tunisian border.
One of the migrants said, “We lived in Tunis and then in Jirjus. The Tunisian police expelled us to Libya.” He added that he wants to return to Tunisia, where his wife and children still are.
This incident highlights the ongoing issue of migrants attempting to cross into Europe through dangerous routes, including Libya, where they often face dire living conditions, abuse, and violence.
Last week, at least 500 sub-Saharan migrants were transferred across Tunisia, after being pushed into a dangerous no-man’s-land on the Libyan border, where they were trapped for a week, without access to basic necessities, according to the Associated Press.
The group was driven out earlier this month, amid a spike in anti-migrant and racism-fuelled tensions, linked to a killing in the Tunisian port city of Sfax. The city remains a hub for traffickers organising risky, and often deadly boat journeys across the Mediterranean to Italy.