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Dozens of abandoned migrants rescued in Sahara

Published 08/09/2020, 14:16
Updated 08/09/2020, 14:18

GENEVA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - More than 80 African migrants
have been rescued from the Sahara desert after they were robbed
and left to die by people they had paid to smuggle them to
Libya, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing
survivors.
Drivers abandoned four trucks carrying the migrants from
Nigeria, Togo, Mali and Ghana with no food or water about 230 km
(143 miles) north of the Sahara crossroad town of Niger's Dirkou
after spotting military vehicles.
Three days later, an IOM rescue team found the group, which
included children, by chance on Sept. 3. Many were dehydrated,
injured and in need of immediate medical assistance.
Spokesman Paul Dillon told Reuters it was not unusual for
smugglers, who tend to take payment upfront from people
desperate to reach Europe, to abandon their passengers if they
fear they will be intercepted.
"Sometimes smugglers return without their passengers. It's
not a rare event," he said. "They know the consequences of
leaving people stranded in the desert. It's very troubling this
disregard for human life."
Since 2016, IOM has helped rescue over 20,000 migrants from
the Sahara desert - one of the most perilous parts of the
journey for West Africans risking their lives to seek jobs in
Europe.
The rescue teams have helped 321 people so far this year,
excluding the latest group.
But sometimes they just find remains.
"Past SAR operations have recovered bodies buried in the
sand," Dillon said, referring to joint operations with Niger
authorities. "It's a vast space and there are many, many routes
north and we don't have resources for patrols," he added.


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