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A suspect has been charged with human trafficking in connection with the discovery.
19:08, Mon, Jan 19, 2026 Updated: 19:09, Mon, Jan 19, 2026
A suspect has been charged with human trafficking (Image: Getty)
A mass grave containing the remains of 21 individuals has been uncovered, believed to be migrants, Libya’s Attorney General’s Office announced on Friday (January 16). A prosecutor at the Benghazi Attorney General’s Office charged an individual, identified only by the initials MFH, with human trafficking in connection with the discovery.
A joint investigation by the Internal Security Agency and Battalion 166 led to the discovery of the mass grave and investigators ordered that DNA samples be collected from the remains to identify the deceased. Full autopsies are also to be carried out to determine their causes of death. The suspect had already been previously charged with three offences related to the murder of migrants and additional human trafficking offences, it has been reported.
Seawatch International has criticised EU policies for endangering migrant lives (Image: Getty)
Refugees in Libya, a Libyan-run organisation registered in Italy that provides support for refugees, has since urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, to “assess this case within the (ICC)’s mandate.”
“The killings [...] occurred within a system where people are blocked, intercepted, returned, and abandoned in Libya after being denied safe pathways to protection," they added. "This demands accountability beyond Libya.”
Meanwhile, Seawatch International, a non-governmental organisation that saves migrants in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, has criticised EU policies for endangering migrant lives: “Horrifying news: In Libya, a mass grave with at least 21 persons was discovered. Their deaths are a direct consequence of EU migration politics. Libya is not a safe place for people on the move!”
Since 2011, Libya has become a hotspot for human trafficking (Image: Getty)
Since the NATO intervention in Libya and the death of the former leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011, Libya has become a hotspot for human trafficking. A US State Department report identified the lack of a functioning judiciary, corruption and the strength of armed non-state groups as causes behind the surge.
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In February last year, two mass graves were discovered containing nearly 50 bodies, though subsequent reports from the UN and local officials suggested the number could be higher, with some estimates reaching 93. While many victims died from the harsh desert conditions, the Al-Abreen charity and IOM reported that several bodies bore gunshot wounds.
Meanwhile, on Sunday (January 18), Libyan authorities freed over 220 migrants from a secret underground prison in the southeast of the country, Reuters reported. The people, some of whom had been held captive for up to two years, were held in inhumane conditions nearly three metres (10ft) underground, according to testimony from sources in the Kufra region. Among the victims were women and a one-month-old baby.
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