“Women and girls die of diseases or lack of food. They are also being raped, anything is possible there. If you die, there are no burials. In BaniWalid, there are writings on the walls saying, Don’t dump bodies here!” Three Sudanese men are sitting in a refugee reception centre in Malta discussing their horrible experiences on the way through Libya and across the sea.

“We didn’t know what to do. We asked him, How? We paid the smuggler and he paid you! He said, I don’t have anything to do with that smuggler. You either pay, or I leave you here and go!” The driver taking Taher and other refugees through the mountains threatened to abandon them in the wilderness.

“Above you is sky and below is water, nothing else. There were women and children with us. It was a very difficult situation. You do not feel hungry or thirsty because you only want to arrive, for three days.” After escaping brutal treatment in Libya, Suleiman spent an agonising three days on a boat, not knowing if he would make it to Europe

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Safiya fled the war in Syria and travelled to Sudan. Her intention was to eventually reach Europe. She stayed in Sudan for a year, got married and had a child. Living conditions there were difficult and they decided to take the Libya route to Europe. They arranged with a smuggler and started the journey through the desert.

Seif was a student in Sudan when he and some friends decided to travel to Europe. They arranged the journey with a smuggler and left for Libya through Chad. The desert was a tough experience, there was little to eat and drink, and when they arrived in Libya, they were exhausted. There, they were kidnapped and forced to work without pay in the goldmines close to the border.

Mustafa was born in Sudan but when he was a teenager, his family moved to Egypt. Soon after arriving there, he decided to try to get to Canada because he felt he had no future in Egypt. He and some friends arranged with a smuggler and they left on a boat from Alexandria.

Hekma grew up in western Sudan and lived a normal and happy life. This all changed when she got married. Her husband’s family considered his choice of bride a disgrace because Hekma came from a dark-skinned tribe that traditionally had been seen as slaves. When she had given birth to her son and was pregnant with her daughter, she decided to leave Sudan because of the hatred she met from her in-laws.

For Precious and Osagie, life in Nigeria began to deteriorate when herdsmen started grazing their cattle on their crops. Tensions escalated into attacks between the herdsmen and the whole community and it was no longer safe for them to stay. Osagie decided to travel to Libya first through a friend who would sponsor him. Precious wanted to join him and met someone who told her she could work as a housemaid in Libya. The desert journey to Libya was enough to make them regret leaving.

Fighting broke out in Mary’s village in Nigeria. Her family were killed but she managed to escape. Then she met a woman who offered to take her to Europe to work as a housemaid. She would also be able to go to school there. Mary agreed and they set off on the journey. In the desert, soldiers shot at their car, it overturned, and many passengers were injured. They had to stay in hiding in a cave, with very little food and water. People became desperate with hunger and thirst. Finally, after ten days, another car came and picked them up.

Gloria lost her business in Nigeria and was being harassed by her creditors. A friend told her about a possibility to go to Europe to earn money, and they left with a smuggler. The journey through the desert was harsh, they were suffering from the heat and were hungry and thirsty. When they arrived in Libya, they realised the smuggler had cheated them. They were taken to a slave market and sold. Gloria never saw her friend again.