Caught Illegal Immigrants Faces Squalor And Death In Libya

In an isolated Libyan compound, a black iron door creaks open, revealing gloom and human misery. Inside are nearly 400 immigrants in filthy conditions. There is barely room to sit, never mind sleep…BBC Reports

The men are sick; most sit passively on the floor. Some have moved into the building's metal rafters. They come from most of the countries in Africa; Niger, Eritrea, Gambia and Egypt to name a few.

Malik Kafasim, is 37 and from Eritrea. I ask if he has paid people-smugglers to get to Libya. He responds:

"Of course! We paid more than 1,600 dollar, from Khartoum to Libya, but unfortunately we were captured, somewhere."

They are covered in lice. Malik says some have been in the jail for more than three months. Beside him are younger men. They give their ages one after the other, "16", "16" - and "15" says the last.

There are also men from as far afield as Bangladesh and Pakistan. "Libya is an open door to Europe," is what the immigrants, the people-smugglers and even the Libyan coastguard admit.

In a dark corner of the jail lay a man with bullet wounds. He is from Gambia; he will not say who shot him.

The Crowded morgue is 320km (200 miles) to Italy from the shores of Libya. A group of nearly 40 illegal immigrants was found off the Misrata coast only last month. Their underpowered engine cut out four hours into the trip and they drifted for two days. Their water and food ran out.

It was pure luck the coastguard found them. Col Reda Essa, who commanded the rescue, says this is Europe's problem, as much as Libya's.

"We applied to the EU to buy boats and helicopters for search and rescue operations, but we haven't received anything," he says. "I think that EU countries, especially Italy, are not serious about fighting illegal immigration."