AFP on Sunday witnessed the border guards rescue around 100 men and women from an uninhabited zone near Sebkhat al-Magta, a salt lake along the Libya-Tunisia border. Border guards told AFP that, over the past two weeks, they have rescued hundreds of migrants who said they were left by Tunisian authorities in the border region near Al-Assah, about 150 kilometres west of Tripoli. At its closest point, near Sfax, Tunisia is only about 130 kilometres from the Italian island of Lampedusa. The North African country is a major gateway for migrants and asylum-seekers attempting perilous sea voyages in hopes of a better life in Europe, whose leaders have offered financial aid to help Tunisia manage the flow. Human Rights Watch said up to 1,200 black Africans were “expelled, or forcibly transferred by Tunisian security forces” in July to the country’s desert border regions with Libya and Algeria. In mid-July, the Tunisian Red Crescent said it had provided shelter to at least 630 migrants who had been taken after July 3 to Ras Jedir, about 40 kilometres north of Al-Assah.
SOURCE: AFRICA NEWS