The Libyan Crimes Watch reported in a statement that four illegal immigrants were injured after being shot by human traffickers in the city of Emsaed, which is located near the border with Egypt, on December 07.
The statement added that the immigrants were transferred to the Tobruk Medical Center for treatment, as two of them are still in the intensive care unit, citing eyewitnesses as saying that a group of traffickers in four civilian cars intercepted the buses of the Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency: Tobruk branch.
The statement indicated that the buses were carrying 140 immigrants of Egyptian nationality to deport them through the Emsaed border crossing, and that the traffickers opened fire to force them to stop, adding that they had trafficked a number of those immigrants.
The Libyan Crimes Watch called on the Public Prosecutor to open an urgent investigation into the incident, and called on the authorities in eastern Libya to provide the necessary protection for immigrants and not to force any of them to accept assistance to return to an unsafe situation, in addition to ensuring that they have access to appropriate health care.