Tunisia and Libya take 276 migrants stranded in desert border region, bring them to shelters

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA and JACK JEFFERY
Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia and Libya have taken back 276 sub-Saharan migrants stranded in a desert region along the border between the two countries and brought them to shelters. Tunisia has been blamed for dumping the migrants in the sizzling heat in the no-man’s land at the border where some have died. A Tunisian spokesman said the development was “a consensual solution” on the “problem of the presence of illegal immigrants in the border area.” Tunisia took 126 of the migrants, including 45 women and eight children, and transferred them to two towns in the southeast. Libya transferred 150 migrants to shelters in the capital, Tripoli. Both countries confirmed the border area had been cleared by late Thursday.