85 dead migrants found washed up in Libya: Red Crescent

The bodies of 85 migrants have been found washed up on the coast of Libya, a major 

departure point for the sea crossing to Europe, the Red Crescent said Monday. 

Since Tuesday, volunteers have recovered dozens of bodies of migrants in an advanced 

stage Of decomposition on beaches near the capital, spokesman Mohamed al -Misrati 

said. 

They found 75 bodies around Tripoli and another 10 in Sabratah, 70 kilometers to the 

west, he said. 

The Libyan coastguard said it had also rescued 212 migrants from two overloaded rubber 

dinghies Off the Libyan coast. 

"We were informed Of the presence Of two large zodiacs Off the coast Of Garabulli " 60 

kilometers east of Tripoli, a coastguard officer told AFP. 

He said that 22 women were among the rescued migrants, who were Of different 

nationalities including many Senegalese and Sudanese. 

Libya, with a coastline of 1 , 770 kilometers, has for years been a stepping stone for 

Africans bound for Europe. 

Most head for Italy's Lampedusa Island which is 300 kilometers from Libya. 

People smugglers have taken advantage of chaos in Libya since the 2011 uprising that 

toppled and killed veteran dictator Muammar Qaddafi to step up their lucrative business. 

In exchange for steep fees, they take would-be migrants on board rickety boats for the 

treacherous crossing. 

About 515,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean this year alone, with up to 3,000 

people dead or reported missing in that period, according to the UN High Commission for 

Refugees. 




Citation: 

AFP, Tripoli.
"Al Arabia News". October 5, 2015.
Al Arabia Network.  October 5,
2015. <http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/05/-Explosion-heard-in-eastern-Lebanon.html>




Response: This article talks about a migrant/refugee crisis that is going on 

in Libya because of the chaos. This was very interesting to me because 

there has been so much focus on the Syrian refugee crisis that I expected 

that this article would be related to that crisis. I think that this article seems 

to be against both the people smugglers as well as the chaos of the Libyan 

situation. I also think that some of the purpose of this article might have been 

to show that even though the Syrian Refugee Crisis is huge and heartbreaking, 

there are thousands of problems like it that are going on all over the world. 

Another purpose may have been to raise awareness about the people smuggling 

that is going on. Overall I think that this article showed yet another sad situation 

of displaced people that we see so often today.