Numerous migrants who had been abandoned by Tunisian authorities in the desert without food or water have been rescued by Libyan border guards, and their numbers are “rising,” an officer claimed on Sunday.
Following racial rioting in early July in Sfax, Tunisia’s second-largest city, hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan African nations were forcibly transported to inhospitable and desert regions bordering Libya and Algeria.
Multiple sources observed them near the Libyan-Tunisian resting or sleeping on the sand and using plants as cover from the sweltering summer heat that reached temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius. They were clearly weary and thirsty.
Nearly 150 west of Al-Assah, a town close to the Tunisia-Libya border, the gang was in an undeveloped area not far from Tripoli.
“The number of migrants keep rising every day,” said Mohamad Abou Snenah of the border patrol unit, telling reporters they have rescued “50 to 70 migrants.”
“We offer them medical attention, first aid, considering the journey they have made through the desert.”