UN rights chief says probing mass grave on Libya-Tunisia border

The bodies of 65 irregular migrants are found in a mass grave in the Shuveyrif region of Tripoli, Libya on March 22, 2024 [Libyan Interior Ministry/Anadolu via Getty Images]

The UN human rights chief said today that his office was following up on reports of a mass grave discovered in the desert along the Libya-Tunisia border, giving a speech where he denounced a series of disturbing developments in Libya, Reuters reports.

“I urge the authorities to respond swiftly to our inquiries, and to investigate these crimes fully,” Volker Turk told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, denouncing “widespread” violations against migrants and refugees. “The loved ones of those who died have every right to know the truth.”

In March, the bodies of at least 65 migrants were discovered in a mass grave in southwest Libya, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. It said the circumstance of their death and nationalities remains unknown, but it is believed that they died in the process of being smuggled through the desert.

OPINION: The Mediterranean: A sea of blood

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.