TUNIS
\nThe bodies of two migrants have been found in a desert region near Tunisia\u2019s border with Algeria, a judicial official and a witness said on Tuesday.
\nHundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan countries have fled or been forced out of Tunisia\u2019s port city of Sfax after racial tensions flared following the July 3 killing of a Tunisian man in an altercation between locals and migrants.
\nMany have been left to fend for themselves in harsh conditions in remote desert areas near Tunisia\u2019s borders with Algeria and with Libya.
\nAround 10 days ago one body was found in the Hazoua desert, near Algeria\u2019s border, and another was discovered on Monday night, Nizar Skander, a spokesman for the court in the south-eastern Tozeur district, said.
\n\u201cBoth bodies are of men, and rescuers have recovered the one found yesterday,\u201d a witness, who declined to be identified for security reasons, added.
\nThe witness, a local merchant, said that in one week two convoys were seen transporting migrants to the desert, with nearly 100 left in the vicinity of Hazoua.
\n\u201cMany of these migrants are trying to reach oases in the area where residents give them food and water,\u201d the witness said.
\nSkander said the authorities have launched a \u201cdubious death\u201d investigation to determine the exact cause of the two fatalities.
\nYoussouf Bilayer, 25, of Ivory Coast, said on Tuesday that he was arrested on July 4 in Sfax where he had worked for four years as a welder and was taken to the Gafsa area near the border with Algeria.
\n\u201cWe were in six buses and they left us in the forest \u2014 they made us get out by beating us,\u201d he said. His group of six people was now moving northwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TUNIS The bodies of two migrants have been found in a desert region near Tunisia\u2019s border with Algeria, a judicial official and a witness said on Tuesday. Hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan countries have fled or been forced out of Tunisia\u2019s port city of Sfax after racial tensions flared following the July 3 killing of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-342714","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n