The recent discovery of dozens of bodies, believed to be people migrating, in mass graves in Jakharrah and the Alkufra desert in Libya is shocking and horrific. 

Our thoughts are with the families of the victims, and with all those who have loved ones missing in similar circumstances, whose situation is often worsened by a lack of access to procedures for reporting, identifying and accessing information about missing people. 

In Libya the torture and killing of migrants in detention, their abandonment at sea or in the desert; being held in conditions akin to slavery; being subject to starvation and other serious human rights violations have been documented extensively by the UN’s Independent Fact Finding Mission on Libya and other bodies.

It is clear that European Union migration funding to Libya, as well as migration funding to Libya from EU member states including Italy and France, has not delivered on its promise to improve conditions for people seeking safety. 

A decade on from the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwreck off the Libyan coast, refugees in Libya remain subject to conditions that no human being should endure. 

Often, these conditions are imposed by forces which received European public funds and support.

The European Commission reportedly took steps recently to review its funding arrangements with Tunisia after revelations of abuses carried out by security forces there.

In the wake of these new discoveries, and following last year’s European court of auditors finding that the EU’s Libya funding fails to address human rights risks, the EU should follow suit in Libya. 

Funding should instead be used to save lives and to provide alternatives to dangerous journeys by ensuring safe routes for people to escape Libya.