Sudanese woman tells of ordeal after expulsion from Tunisia

Record ID: 1736927

  • Title: Sudanese woman tells of ordeal after expulsion from Tunisia
  • Date: 8th August 2023
  • Summary: ALASAA, LIBYA (AUGUST 8, 2023) (REUTERS) (PART MUTE) VARIOUS OF DRONE FOOTAGE SHOWING MIGRANTS STRANDED ON THE LIBYAN-TUNISIAN BORDER (MUTE) WOMAN HOLDING TIGHT A BOTTLE OF WATER VARIOUS OF WOMAN COVERING HER FACE, LYING DOWN ON THE GROUND, HOLDING TIGHT A BOTTLE OF WATER MIGRANT WITH FACE COVERED IN DUST / DESERT IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF MIGRANT HOLDING A BOTTLE OF WATER, SITTING IN DESERT VARIOUS OF SUDANESE PREGNANT WOMAN, TAFAUL OMAR, SITTING ON THE GROUND IN THE DESERT, NEXT TO ANOTHER MIGRANT OMAR HOLDING A BOTTLE OF WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SUDANESE PREGNANT MIGRANT, TAFAUL OMAR, SAYING: "I was in Tunisia, my husband is a day labourer. We wanted to go to Italy and there was beating and insults. After that, two days ago, they took us to the borders. The following day, after we reached the borders, they took us, beat the men and left us. We walked on the road towards Libya but we don’t know the direction. We walked for three, four hours then the Libyan police found us, they gave us water and helped us into cars.” VARIOUS OF MIGRANT POURING WATER INTO A BOTTLE MIGRANTS SITTING ON THE GROUND COVERED IN DUST MIGRANT DRINKING WATER MIGRANT, COVERED IN DUST, SITTING ON THE GROUND MIGRANTS SITTING ON THE GROUND IN THE DESERT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN BORDER GUARD OFFICER, ALI WALI, SAYING: “We are trying to reduce the number (of people) that enters (into Libya), but the total every day is approximately between 100 to 150 people, and on some days the number reaches 300. As for the bodies, according to the field medics, around 35 bodies were recovered from the Libyan desert and were handed to the concerned authorities. I want to clarify another point, that we can see some bodies on the Tunisian side, but we cannot enter the Tunisian territory.” MIGRANTS SHELTERING IN THE SHADE OF THE BORDER GUARD'S CAR FROM THE HEAT OF THE SUN VARIOUS OF OMAR LYING DOWN ON THE GROUND VARIOUS OF MIGRANT LYING ON THE GROUND, COVERING HIS FACE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN BORDER GUARD OFFICER, ALI WALI, SAYING: “When we interrogated some migrants, they said they’ve left behind four people who disappeared, and we couldn’t find them. Some said there are women and children still there (in Tunisia). It’s a wide desert, and groups of migrants might walk in different directions, five people would walk one way, these people here are around 15 and they said five people walked in this direction and seven others walked in another direction.” MEN HELPING WOMEN GET ON THE BORDER GUARD’S CAR VARIOUS OF OMAR LEANING ON HER HUSBAND, TEARFUL MIGRANTS SITTING IN BACK OF TRUCK VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WASHING IN COLD WATER
  • Embargoed: 22nd August 2023 13:03
  • Keywords: Libya Tunisia migrants
  • Location: ALASAA, LIBYA
  • City: ALASAA, LIBYA
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Africa,Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001304208082023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PART AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING
    Exhausted, pregnant and weeping, Sudanese nurse Tafaul Omar, 26, sat under the scorching desert sun along with 14 other migrants who said they had been arrested by Tunisian authorities and dumped in the border area with Libya - a practice Tunisia denies.
    The group of men and women from Sudan, Senegal, Ghana and Mali had walked for four hours before a Libyan border patrol that Reuters accompanied found them at the weekend and gave them water and food, Omar and the others said.
    Migrants, Libyan border guards and rights groups accuse Tunisia of expelling migrants across the frontier into a featureless wilderness far from towns or villages in the height of summer as part of a months-long crackdown.
    Libya has reported finding bodies of migrants who died in the desert.
    Tunisia's Interior Ministry denies dumping migrants in the desert and President Kais Saied has described the reports as misinformation aimed at discrediting the country.
    Reuters could not independently verify the migrants' accounts of what took place before they were found in the desert.
    (Production: Ayman Sahely, Hamuda Hassan, Hani Amara, Mariam Rizk)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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