Mass graves of migrants discovered in Libya

The Libyan security service said in a statement on Sunday that 19 bodies were found in the first mass grave, which was discovered in a field southeast of the city of Kufra, and that authorities had taken them for autopsies.

According to the Al-Abrin charity, which helps migrants in eastern and southern Libya, some of the victims were apparently shot and killed before being buried in the mass grave.

Euronews also reported that another mass grave with at least 30 bodies was found in the same area after an attack on a human trafficking center, Mohamed al-Fadel, head of the security service in Kufra, said.

Survivors of the smuggling hub said nearly 70 people were buried in the graves, and authorities were still searching the area.

Libya has previously uncovered mass graves of migrants. Last year, authorities exhumed the bodies of at least 65 migrants in the Shayrif area, 350 kilometers south of Tripoli.

Libya is a major transit point for migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East, and human traffickers have taken advantage of more than a decade of instability in Libya to smuggle migrants across its borders with six countries: Chad, Niger, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.

Human rights groups and UN agencies have documented systematic abuses of migrants in Libya for years, including forced labor, beatings, rape and torture. The abuses are often accompanied by extortion from their families before the migrants leave Libya by boat.

Even migrants caught on the dangerous route and returned to Libya, including women and children, are being held in government detention centers, where they are also at risk of torture, sexual assault and extortion, according to human rights groups and UN experts.