9 Illegal Migrants Die, Hundreds Rescued in Sudan-Libya Desert
Nine illegal immigrants have died among some 300 abandoned by smugglers in the scorching Sudanese-Libyan desert, with the others in poor condition, Khartoum's army said Wednesday.
"They were on their way to Libya as illegal immigrants," spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told Agence France Presse.
"The smugglers left them in the desert... on the border between Sudan and Libya," he said, adding that all of the dead were Sudanese.
The others are from various nationalities and include Ethiopians, Eritreans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, Saad said.
Sudanese and Libyan troops rescued the migrants in a joint operation, the army spokesman said in a statement posted on the defense ministry's website.
In all 319 people were abandoned in the desert, he said.
"Nine of them died and the others are in a bad condition. They are getting treatment and being transferred to Dongola," a town about 500 kilometers (300 miles) northwest of Khartoum, he added.
The loosely governed desert region stretching from eastern Sudan up through Egypt to the Sinai Peninsula is a major route for African migrants trying to flee in search of a better life.
Thousands of Eritreans flee each year, with many heading for Israel, while others try to get to Europe.
"Some of them try to go through Egypt. Some of them try to go through Libya," said a source familiar with the situation.
"They would try to cross the Mediterranean Sea via Libya."
Economic migrants or refugees often rely on smugglers.
According to official data, some 600 refugee from Eritrea alone make their way to Sudan each month.
"The majority of them want to continue onwards," the source said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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