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![A bulldozer begins work on the trench in Jalu in January 2014 (Photo: social . . .[restrict]media)](http://www.libyaherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1978636_690158817689299_1364833059_n.jpg)
By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 12 May 2014:
During a regular patrol by Jalu oasis defense foces, 65 illegal immigrants from Sudan were found in Sarir, about 400 kilometres south of Ajdabiya on Saturday evening.
“The immigrants were lost, thirsty and losing hope. They were all Sudanese,” Ali Al-Khidri of the Al -Wahat illegal immigrant office told the Libya Herald.
“We encountered the lost Sudanese illegal immigrants while on regular patrol on Saturday evening,” Mohammed Waday, spokesperson for the No. 25 Border Guards, told this paper. “The traffickers had dropped them in the middle of nowhere in order to avoid being caught by the army.
“We found seven more after the initial 65 last night, as well as one more this morning,” added Waday.
Increasing number of illegal immigrants are being brought across Libyan eastern and southern borders by human traffickers. Once paid, the latter are sometimes known leave them in the middle of desert.
In January, authorities in Jalu began to dig a trench, three metres deep and 100 kilometres long, around the oasis town. Once the project, which come straight out of the past, is complete, locals hope that problems with human trafficking and drug smuggling in the area will also be part of the past.
“The presence of the trench has already caused a significant decrease in the number of illegal immigrants around the oasis,” explained Al-Khidri. [/restrict]
