Libyan Border Guards Rescue Migrants Left in Desert Near Tunisia

07/18/2023

Libyan border guards have rescued dozens of migrants they said had been left in the desert by Tunisian authorities without water, food, or shelter. 

Hundreds of people from sub-Saharan African countries were forcibly taken to desert and hostile areas bordering Libya and Algeria after racial unrest in early July in Sfax, Tunisia’s second largest city. 

The group of at least 80 people were found in an uninhabited area close to Al-Assah, a town near the Tunisia-Libya border, about 90 miles (150km) west of Tripoli. 

Hundreds of people fled or were forced out of Sfax after racial tensions flared following killing of a Tunisian man in an altercation between locals and migrants on July 3. 

Tunisian rights groups said on Friday that between 100 and 150 people, including women and children, were still stuck on the border with Libya. 

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