Over the past two weeks, representatives from the Emergency Medicine and Support Center (EMSC), which works under the auspices of the Libyan health ministry, have been recovering bodies along the coast line in western Libya.

On October 12, the EMSC released a press release, in which they listed various recovery operations. Along the coastline between Zuwara and Ras Ajdir, the remains of three bodies were recovered in Mellitah and 12 bodies in Zuwara. All of those belonged to "irregular migrants", stated the EMSC.

The area where the bodies were recovered is part of western Libya, closest to the Tunisian border. Ras Ajdir is a border town.

"The bodies were recovered and transferred to the morgue for autopsy and documentation, and later buried in Abu Kammash cemetery," stated the EMSC.

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A series of recoveries

The discoveries this week followed recoveries over the past two weeks. Last week, eight bodies were recovered and 26 the week before in Zuwara, Abu Kammash and Mellitah. "Additionally five bodies were transferred from Tripoli to be buried in Zuwara, while seven identified bodies were transported from Zuwara to Tripoli for handover to their families," stated EMSC.

At the end of September, authorities in the eastern part of the country said they had recovered the decomposed bodies of five migrants from the desert. The recovered remains were taken to Tobruk, stated the Libyan Red Crescent.

Abreen, a local aid group, which also took part in the recovery operation, told the news agency Associated Press (AP) that they believed those dead had been Sudanese migrants. In May this year, at least seven Sudanese migrants died after the vehicle they were in broke down in the Libyan desert after crossing the border from Chad.

Migrants in Libya

The UN Migration Agency IOM estimates that there are as many as 894,890 migrants currently residing in Libya, from 45 different nationalities. These figures date from its latest Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) published in October, which looked at data between May and July 2025.

Around 53 percent of migrants are believed to be located in the west of Libya and around 35 percent in the east of the country, which is ruled by a rival government headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. Around 12 percent of migrants are found in the south of the country, according to IOM estimates.

Sudanese migrants make up about 35 percent of all migrants in the country at the moment, nationals from Niger around 21 percent and nationals from Egypt around 19 percent. The majority (78 percent) are adult males, with about 11 percent of the group being adult females, seven percent of migrants in Libya are accompanied children and about four percent are unaccompanied minors.

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Majority of departures towards Europe from Libya

According to the IOM, 76 percent of all migrants in the country have some form of employment. However, the employment rate differs by gender: 79 percent of male migrants are employed while only 37 percent of female migrants have a job.

The vast majority of females (80 percent) arrived in the country over one year ago, and 63 percent of male migrants have also been in Libya for over a year. Thirty-seven percent of male migrants told the IOM they had arrived within six months to a year in the period they were questioned, and 22 percent of male migrants said they had arrived six months ago or more recently.

Last year, departures of migrants from Tunisia briefly overtook the numbers leaving Libya. This year, however, the majority of departures from the North African coast towards Europe have taken place from Libya.

Between September 28 and October 4, the IOM said that Libyan authorities intercepted 753 migrants and returned them to Libya. So far in 2025, more than 20,017 migrants have been intercepted and returned to Libya. This compares to 21,762 migrants in the whole of 2024 and 17,190 in the whole of 2023.

With Reuters, AP 

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