The world looks the other way. There are hundreds of sub-Saharan migrants stranded on the Libya-Tunisia border. They were pushed to the border area by the Tunisian police, but are not allowed to enter Libya.

140 of them are camped out in the open, under a scorching sun and temperatures verging on 50°C, awaiting a determination on their fate. Another group, of about 100 people, is in another camp near a salt pan. Those who attempted to cross the desert border died of hunger and thirst. The people encamped receive a minimum of assistance from Libyan and Tunisian civil society associations, a drop in the ocean of needs.

Human tragedies are told in Arab and international TV reports, but the chancelleries are silent. The Libyan interior minister, Traboulsi (a former militia expert in human trafficking and oil and listed on the UN blacklist) has heard from his Tunisian counterpart, but no solution has been found. Migrants cannot return to Tunisia and cannot enter Libya.