[Today’s Prayer] Dozens of migrant bodies found buried in Libya… Traces of gunshot wounds found

Two mass graves containing dozens of migrant corpses were discovered in a desert area in southeastern Libya, the Associated Press and other news agencies reported on the 9th (local time).

A mass grave containing 19 bodies was discovered on a farm in the southeastern city of Kufrah on Sunday, according to Libyan security officials and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

On the 8th, 76 migrants held in a migrant facility in Kufrah were rescued and 30 bodies buried next to the facility were recovered, AFP reported.

Some of the bodies also bore gunshot wounds, the IOM said. It added that more bodies could be buried in the graveyard next to the migrant facility, with up to 70 bodies potentially being unearthed.

"We have arrested three people, one Libyan and two foreigners, for deliberately depriving illegal immigrants of their liberty and subjecting them to inhumane treatment," Libyan security officials said in a statement.

Kufra is a city in the desert, not far from the borders of Egypt and Sudan in southeastern Libya.

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya has been home to a steady stream of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe by boat.

The AP reported that, especially amid Libya's political instability that has persisted for more than a decade, human trafficking brokers have been profiting from and abusing migrants by smuggling them into the country and forcing them onto Mediterranean routes.

The IOM pointed out that migrant deaths and disappearances are occurring not only by sea but also by land. Last year, the IOM explained that more than 22% of the 965 migrant deaths and disappearances in Libya occurred by land.

“The deaths of migrants are a tragic reminder of the dangers they face on their perilous migration journey,” said Nicoletta Giordano, IOM’s representative in Libya. “Protecting the human rights of those who face extreme exploitation, violence and abuse must be a top priority.”

Source: YNA News

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17)

Lord, we hear that dozens of bodies of African and Middle Eastern migrants have been found buried in a desert area in southeastern Libya.

African and Middle Eastern migrants are traveling through Libya to Europe in search of a better life, but are dying at the hands of human trafficking brokers and dangerous migration journeys. Lord, we ask that you would make known the kingdom of God to those who are dying without hope in this world.

Lord, lead the migrants not to risk their lives for worldly values, but to find true freedom and peace in your kingdom, where righteousness, peace, and joy abound.

May this gospel of life be shared among them. May the gospel be shared among them through the global church, and may African and Middle Eastern migrants become gospel-living people!

We also lift up Libya. In the midst of the blood of so many martyrs, we pray that You will raise up churches in Libya that the powers of darkness will not be able to harm, and that the rapid evangelization will make Libya a nation that holds on to the gospel and looks to Jesus alone.

Make the church in Libya Your highway to preach the gospel and raise up migrants passing through Libya as dreamers of Your kingdom!

Let Libya be an outpost of the gospel, sending missionaries to the Maghreb and to the nations, to the Kingdom of God!