Bodies of five suspected migrants found in desert in northern Libya, aid groups say

The decomposed bodies of five suspected migrants have been recovered in eastern Libya, local aid groups said on Thursday.

Recovery crews worked with local authorities to recover the remains which were located around 550 kilometres south of Tobruk, in an area called the Great Sand Sea.

The recovered remains were taken to Tobruk, according to the Red Crescent. It said that one of the "tragedies that embody the grave dangers faced by migrants traveling through the desert, the so-called 'death journey.'"

Abreen, a local aid group that tracks migrant deaths in Libya, said in a statement that the remains were likely of migrants from Sudan.

The group posted photos of the recovery operation, including one that showed the clothing of a decomposed body.

Libya, which shares borders with six countries and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean, has been a main transit point for migrants trying to reach Europe who are fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Most have to embark on dangerous trips overland or by sea.

Drowning incidents near the country's coast have been common. In December, at least 61 migrants, including women and children, drowned off the town of Zuwara on Libya's western coast.

While in May, at least seven Sudanese migrants died after a vehicle carrying 34 people broke down in the Libyan desert after crossing the border from Chad, said Ebrahim Belhassan, director of the Kufra Ambulance and Emergency Services.

They were discovered in the sand dunes after 11 days, having run out of food and water, he said.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates around 787,000 migrants and refugees from various nationalities were living in Libya as of 2024.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said that in 2021, 32,400 refugees and migrants had made the crossing from Libya to Europe, more than twice as many as in 2020.

In April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed to increase staffing for Frontex, the EU’s external border and coastguard agency, by 30,000, a number that could provide a significant boost in its mission to secure Europe's external borders.