Videos published by the Italian NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans show alleged abuse of migrants in Tunisia by Tunisian soldiers.

The organization has also accused the Italian government of being complicit in these deportations: "This is the strategy of [Italian Premier Giorgia] Meloni and [Interior Minister Matteo] Piantedosi against migrant people: money in exchange for the physical elimination of refugees," wrote the organization, which rescues migrants in the Mediterranean, in text accompanying the publication of the three videos.

The videos themselves were originally posted by the organization Refugees in Libya on July 19 and July 20. The Italian NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans told ANSA they have handed them over to the European Court for Human Rights (ECtHR) and to Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Also read: Tens of thousands of testimonies reveal dangers of land routes in desert

Series of videos

"A series of videos, gathered by the self-organized group Refugees in Libya," wrote Mediterranea Saving Humans in a statement, "document, in an astounding way, the violence and torture experienced by migrant people captured at sea by Libyan militias and by the Tunisian national guard."

The organization accused the Italian government of being complicit in these actions, because of their policy of providing funding for Libya and Tunisia to deal with migration in their countries.

The statement continued that this strategy was "mentioned by the Italian interior minister himself in the pages of a national daily," referring to an interview published by Rome daily Il Messaggero on Sunday, July 21.

"The videos, which we have provided to the UN Commission for Human Rights, the ECtHR and the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, document two episodes dating back to July 9 and 17," claim the NGOs.

Also read: UN alleges Tunisia rounded up migrants and passed them to Libya

'Robbed and deported to the desert' by Tunisian soldiers

There are no dates on the videos, and for the most part people's heads are not visible or they keep their faces bowed. It is difficult to tell from the footage when it might have been filmed, or by whom. In one of the videos, the narrator appears on screen, holding a selfie stick and 'showing' the viewer the plight of some of the men he is with, who appear to be sitting dejectedly on desert sand. However, although the narrator waves the camera about in one direction, saying "look there is nothing but desert," the viewer is not shown what might be behind him.

The statement explains: "On July 9, 52 migrant people, including three children and four women, were deported to the desert at the border with Algeria by Tunisian military forces. They had been captured while trying to reach the European coast by the Tunisian national guard. After reaching the port of Sfax, they were handcuffed and hit for hours, robbed of their cell phones and of the few things they had, then deported to the desert, without water or food," claimed the organization in the statement. The statement doesn't explain how the person filming managed to retain his cell phone and selfie stick.

"We have documented news of 18 of these 52 people, who survived. We don't know the fate of the children, or the other 34."

The statement continued that the second video, which is alleged to have taken place in the countryside close to the Tunisian port city of Sfax on July 17, depicts "the violent removal of refugees. Pregnant women were hit with batons and wounded, along with families with children who were forced to flee the soldiers' violence," the NGO claimed.

Also read: UN discovers mass grave of migrants along Libya-Tunisia border

Shelters 'set on fire'

The organization also alleges that the military "set makeshift shelters on fire" and that, "after these acts of violence,. they chased people to deport them to the desert."

"These videos document unequivocally what is going on in Libya and Tunisia, due to the agreements with our country [Italy]," claim the NGOs.

They called for an end to these "inhuman practices."

The organization questioned whether the Italian government felt it was "admissible for a country that calls itself a democracy...to be an accomplice of such crimes against humanity?"