UN team conducts probe into mass graves discovered along Tunisia-Libya border

The UN is investigating reports of two mass graves believed to contain bodies of migrants in the desert along the Tunisia-Libya border.

Human Rights Chief Volker Turk condemned widespread abuses against migrants and refugees in Libya, committed with impunity by both state and non-state actors. These crimes include human trafficking, torture, forced labor, extortion, starvation, detention, and mass expulsions.

During a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, Mr. Turk stated, “I urge the authorities to respond swiftly to our inquiries, and to investigate these crimes fully.”

In his speech, the UN’s top official highlighted the worsening treatment of migrants in Libya over the past year, describing recent developments in the country as “disturbing.”

In March, the UN’s migration agency IOM expressed profound shock and alarm after discovering the bodies of at least 65 presumed migrants in a mass grave in Libya’s southwestern Al Jahriya valley, about 420km south of Tripoli.

Both Tunisia and Libya have faced multiple accusations of mistreating migrants from UN agencies and human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.