At least 52
migrants, mostly from The Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire, have died
in Sahara Desert, even as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
said it had rescued no fewer than 600 people since April 2017 through a new
search and rescue operation that targeted migrants stranded in the prominent
Desert.
This
disclosure was made by the UN migration agency in a statement issued on
Tuesday.
“We are
enhancing our capacity to assist vulnerable migrants stranded in Northern
Agadez, towards the Niger-Libya border.
“Saving
lives in the desert is becoming more urgent than ever.
“Since the
beginning of the year we have been receiving frequent calls to rescue victims
who embark on this route,” Giuseppe Loprete, Niger Chief of Mission for IOM,
said.
According to
him, a 22-year-old woman was the only female among the survivors of a rescue
mission on May 28.
“She left
Nigeria in early April hoping for a better future in Europe.
“There were
50 migrants on the pick-up truck when it left Agadez for Libya, but only six
are still alive today,” Loprete said.
Narrating
her ordeal, the Nigerian survivor said:
“We were in
the desert for 10 days. After five days, the driver abandoned us.
“He left
with all of our belongings, saying he was going to pick us up in a couple of
hours, but he never did.”
During the
next two days, 44 of the migrants died which persuaded the six left to start
walking to look for help.
“We had to
drink our own pee to survive,” she said.
On June 9,
another 92 migrants were also rescued through an IOM search and rescue
operation; among them were 30 women and children.
More
recently, 24 migrants were taken to Seguedine, where one died on arrival.
“Among the
23 survivors are migrants from Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. It
was not clear for how long they had been walking in the deserts of central
Niger.
“They had
been in a group of 75 migrants in three different cars, eventually abandoned by
smugglers during the journey north,” Loprete said.
NAN quoted
IOM as saying it had recorded 52 deaths since it launched a new project
“Migrants Rescue and Assistance in Agadez Region” (MIRAA) in April.
0 Comments