Interviewing Malik Marsit of the Libyan Red Crescent

This post is a piece of evidence in our open investigation into the disappearance of a group of at least 243 refugees in 2014. We’re asking for your help to find them: Please take the time leave notes, responses, highlight important information or dig in to see what else you can discover.

—Interview conducted by Mohamed Lagha. Translated from Arabic.

Can you introduce yourself?

This is Dr Malik Marsit, communication director at the Libyan Red Crescent in Tripoli. On the 7th of July 2014, our LRC body recovery and management team managed to recover some bodies, allegedly illegal immigrants, on the shores of the Tajoura navy camp. There were 22 bodies during the period spanning 7–11 July. They were transported to Tripoli Medical Center. On July 11, it was a Friday, we received a phone call from the community council of Tajoura that there were other illegal immigrant bodies suspected to be on the same boat with those who washed ashore on the 7th of July. We recovered 22 bodies during seven days. This took place of course after the boat was pulled to shore by the coast guard.

So the boat did not wash ashore by itself?

No the boat did not. It is believed that the boat broke down. Maybe it ran out of gasoline.

Are you sure it was not the Navy who helped with this operation?

When we went, we did not see any military body or any symbol that can show us the identity of who was there, but the place from which we collected the bodies and pulled out the boat was in Tajoura navy camp.

Do you always document what you do?

Of course. It is part of our job to document, and even publish information via media outlets. We do not have the right to take detailed pictures of bodies. We only take pictures, and document the body-collecting operations at sea.

How are bodies treated after being collected?

First we put them in specific plastic bags and get them transported in the modest cars of the LRC (called half transportation cars) and take them to the Tripoli medical center…and from there to the morgue.

Do you have any idea about any boats sinking at sea without any bodies washing ashore?

In 2015, a boat was pulled in to the port of Tripoli port, but not in 2014. Some of the people on that boat had been rescued by an oil tanker, some of them had drowned, and that was almost the only case when we noticed that there were some rescued people.

Who documents bodies?

There is a special authority who takes care of this and as far as LRC are concerned, we do document certain information but not faces, or details about bodies. We always consider the human side when we document, so only security authorities do that, and doctors, of course, who keep forensic evidence too.