Reports of dead children washed up on Libya beach

Images of dead children and women washed up on a beach in Libya have been shared by a Spanish charity.

The NGO Proactiva Open Arms received some of the photos from inside Libya and said they are of people who had tried to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, a dangerous route for migrants.

They show the partially clothed bodies of small children and a woman, bloated and half buried in the sand.

At least 743 migrants are known to have died in the Mediterranean this year.

According to the data published by UN’s International Organization for Migration, there have been 630 recorded deaths in the central Mediterranean alone in 2021, compared with 289 deaths for the whole sea in 2020.

“We are in shock,” Open Arms head of communications Laura Lanuza told the BBC. “When people try to flee from Libya they shouldn’t be taken back or left adrift in the Mediterranean. There should be a search and rescue operation… to protect lives at sea.”

“The Mediterranean is the biggest graveyard in the world,” she said. “It shouldn’t be like this.”

Reacting to the photos, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said: “Images of bodies of babies and toddlers washed up on a beach in Libya are unacceptable.”

Photo: A file photo of Libyan Red Crescent recovering bodies of drowned migrants. EPA/EFE

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