Migrants stranded in Sahara

2004-11-03 02:04

Nouakchott, Mauritania - An international humanitarian agency helped rescue 23 Indian and Bangladeshi migrants who became stranded in the Sahara desert after a failed bid to migrate to Europe.

The migrants were found in the Mauritanian town of Zouerate on October 26 and driven to the capital, Nouakchott, by the International Organisation for Migration, said Redouane Saadi, a spokesperson for the agency in Geneva.

All 23 have since been flown back to India and Bangladesh, he said.

The UN agency said in a statement that the Asians had been found "in distress."

But no other details were available on how the group had been discovered or what condition they were in, Saadi said.

It was not clear how they wound up in North Africa, a region criss-crossed with smuggling routes used to channel goods and migrants to Europe.

"This is not an isolated incident as thousands of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia remain stranded and in distress in the Maghreb whilst trying to reach the northern shores of the Mediterranean using smuggling networks," the agency said in a statement.

The Maghreb region of North Africa includes Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya.

Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants try to slip into Europe every year to seek a better life.

Many African migrants are also fleeing war and deep poverty at home.

Mauritania is a largely desert nation straddling black and Arab Africa.

- AP