Director Sarah Crete has released a documentary, Libya: No Way Out of Hell, about the many migrant detention centres in Libya
The film shows POW camps and highlights the links between militias, human smugglers and the authorities: a well-established system that benefits from European politics and exploits the weakness of countries like Italy despite the involvement of the United Nations.
Thousands of people are held in inhumane conditions while the European Union and the UN decide what to do with them. Officially the Libyan government is responsible for them, but in reality they are controlled by militias. They use the camps as a source of money. The migrants are kidnapped and then ransoms are demanded from the families.
Kreta’s work has shown video footage that the victims have recorded on their mobile phones: valuable evidence of their daily lives in the camps, but also of the huge spiral of violence to which they are defenceless.
Europe, which has contributed significantly to the crisis in the country, is now seeking closure from the migrants who are fleeing Libya. The EU is training the coastguards, providing them with extra transport to stem the flow of refugees.