18 migrants found dead in Sahara desert.

Niger- Migrant found dead in Niger desert, the bodies of west African migrants hoping to reach Europe have been found in the Sahara desert. The bodies were 18 in numbers, Many thousands are attempting to cross the vast and inhospitable terrain in order to reach the Libyan coast, where they hope to begin another hazardous trip by boat to Europe.

We don't think this is an isolated case but without a systematic collection of information or without a 'rescue' operation we will never know how many migrants could be possibly missing. We have to ask ourselves how many people have died (are dying) in the desert even before making it to the Mediterranean Sea.  Most of the dead came from West African countries, part of a wave of migrants trying to reach Libya to board smugglers' boats across the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. They included 17 men and one woman.