Bodies of migrants recovered off the coast of Libya

She added in a statement issued late yesterday, Monday, that the bodies were recovered from the Tajoura area, which is about 22 kilometers from Tripoli.

Moaz Al-Zarqani, Director of the Office of the Red Crescent Society, Tripoli Branch, said that the local authorities in Tajoura expect more bodies to arrive at the beach, as the boat was carrying about 19 people.

Pictures published by the relief organization showed its volunteers, along with security forces, carrying the bodies in white plastic bags on the beach.

Yesterday, Monday, the charity ship Emergency was able to rescue 50 migrants from a wooden boat in international waters off the coast of Libya, while the bodies of seven others were recovered.

Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert or the Mediterranean since the overthrow of former President Muammar Gaddafi in an uprising that received support from NATO in 2011.

The European Union recently approved plans to establish a maritime rescue coordination center in the city of Benghazi in eastern Libya, at a time when the bloc seeks to limit the flow of arrivals through one of the most common routes taken by migrants to Europe.