UN agency says 'deeply alarmed' by Libya migrant mass graves

GENEVA — The United Nations' International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Monday said it was "deeply alarmed" by the dozens of migrant bodies found in mass graves in southeastern Libya.

On Sunday, Libyan authorities said they found the bodies of 28 sub-Saharan migrants in the southeastern district of Kufra, near a site where they were allegedly detained and tortured.

The UN agency expressed "shock and concern at the discovery of two mass graves in Libya containing the bodies of dozens of migrants, some with gunshot wounds".

The IOM said "at least 30" bodies were found in a mass grave in Kufra, whereas "as many as 70" others may have been buried there.

The statement received by AFP also said 19 bodies were discovered in Jakharrah, some 400 kilometres south of the coastal city of Benghazi, though it did not say when.

The circumstances of the migrants' "death and nationalities" remain unknown, it said.

The graves were "discovered following a police raid, during which hundreds of migrants were rescued from traffickers", it added.

Photos posted by Libyan authorities Sunday on social media showed emaciated migrants with scars on their faces, limbs and backs.

The authorities had said three people were arrested, "one Libyan and two foreigners".

Libya, a key transit country for migrants attempting to reach Europe, has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Muamer Qadhafi.

It remains split between the United Nations-recognised government and a rival authority in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Smugglers and human traffickers have taken advantage of the instability since.

Libya has long been criticised over its treatment of migrants and refugees, with accusations from rights groups ranging from extortion to slavery.

Located around 300 kilometres from Italy, it is a key departure point for migrants, primarily from sub-Saharan African countries, who risk perilous Mediterranean Sea journeys to seek better lives in Europe.

In March last year, a mass grave containing "at least 65 migrants' bodies" was discovered in southwest Libya, the IOM said at the time.

Last month, authorities arrested two people accused of torturing and detaining 263 irregular migrants to extort ransoms in El Wahat, eastern Libya.

Authorities said at the time the migrants had been detained to "force their families to pay $17,000 in exchange for the release of Somali migrants and to pay $10,000 in exchange for the release of Eritrean migrants".