At least seven Sudanese migrants found dead deep in Libyan desert

Euronews

23-05-2025

At least seven migrants from Sudan have been found dead after their vehicle broke down and left them stranded for days deep in the Libyan desert, according to an ambulance service official.
The car was carrying 34 Sudanese nationals when it broke down crossing Libya's border from Chad and onto a deserted path often used by smugglers, Ebrahim Belhassan, director of the Kufra Ambulance and Emergency Services, said.
They were discovered in the sand dunes after 11 days, having run out of food and water, he said.
"The survivors were almost about to die. They are severely dehydrated and exhibiting signs of distress and trauma with such circumstances and given that they're seeing those around them dying and they know if they will die next," he said.
The 22 people rescued, including five children, were transferred to Kufra for medical checks.
Five people are missing, but Belhassan said hopes were slim they would survive on foot in the vast desert.
A smuggler who found them alerted emergency crews, Belhassan said.
Libya, which shares borders with six nations and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean, is a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, and often trying to reach Europe.
The International Organization for Migration estimates around 787,000 migrants and refugees from various nationalities lived in Libya as of 2024.
During last year, the Kufra ambulance service responded to emergencies involving more than 260 Sudanese migrants found in the desert, Belhassan said.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) parliament has voted to lift former President Joseph Kabila's immunity over his alleged support of the M23 rebels in the east of the country.
Kabila, who ruled the African nation between 2001 and 2019, has denied the allegations.
In a secret ballot late on Thursday, politicians decided by 88 votes to five to rescind the lifetime immunity Kabila enjoyed as an honorary senator.
The move leaves the former president open to prosecution, something that the DRC's military attorney general had sought.
Kabila is accused of "treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectional movement" in the country's east, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba said.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi alleged last year that Kabila was helping the rebels to prepare an insurrection.
Last month, the country's authorities acted against Kabila by moving to suspend his People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) and to seize the assets of its leaders.
The PPRD has called the targeting of Kabila "pure theatre," claiming the government intends to use his prosecution to distract the public from the real challenges the country faces.
Kabila, who has lived for the past two years in South Africa, announced he would be stepping down after mass protests in the DRC in 2018.
The former president, who became the DRC's leader at just 29 following the assassination of his father, has expressed a desire to end the conflict in the east, where around 100 armed groups are vying for control of mineral resources.
The M23 rebels, who are said to be supported by 4,000 troops from Rwanda, gained territory in the region in January, capturing the key city of Goma.
They later also took the area's second largest city, Bukavu.
Both the Congolese army and the rebels have been accused of crimes in the war-torn east.
Despite agreeing earlier this month to work towards a truce, the DRC's army and the M23 rebels continue to fight in the eastern South-Kivu province.