siv against the internationally recognized government in tripoli this triggered a bitter fight for control of the capital. at our hotel we were warned of the dangers. at the university which of. the i know you have her permission i know i know and be able to do even being able to do more with you to do. this from you. ok thank you thank you on the day of our arrival a military school was the target of an ass strike. the following day the bodies of alleged martyrs which carried through the streets. was. the civil war here affects not only the libyans the refugees are also mired in the conflict we pass them at every roundabout always grouped together for protection. they're here

to search for work. a rare safe haven is the office of carry chast situated next to this church carriage house is a catholic and geo every friday after mass it opens its doors to my goods in need like this syrian family no one helps us no one protects us it's a very difficult situation there are kidnappings and arrests they even took my son out of school so they could beat him we don't want humanitarian aid in libya we just want to get out of this country. helion works here she's from burundi and is a refugee herself i think it's just like the situation is really critical with the war not ending and everything lots of people don't have anywhere to live they don't have shelter. and there are some who have nothing to eat.

this international. every week leon helps dozens of vulnerable individuals they come here from syria gambia or the central african republic like adel for his wife and their children. there are little things for the kids food for the babies some sweets. i don't agree with to talk to us as long as we're discreet he and his family are hiding in this house. with the. adults journeyed to europe began in 2013 he was a victim of the civil war in the central african republic he shows us where he got shot in the arm. so i can only move my arm this far it can't go up here just gonna. sit

in the middle of the interview the day breaks down after leaving the central african republic his family made their way through chad and then to libya from here they tried to cross the mediterranean to europe. the libyan police caught us in the middle of the sea. they took us to zawiyah. me my wife and my child. my wife was 7 months pregnant one circle. a gay friend his family managed to escape the detention center in zawiyah. their little girl was born in this house. 'd 'd on july 23rd 2019. 'd the family has been stuck in libya for 2 years even though a death as a u.n.h.c.r.

refugee haunt. ready ready ready ready ready ready you. 'd 'd in theory this card should allow him to access un. it's clear i'm a war victim feels like the u.n.h.c.r. won't take any responsibility i don't even know why i keep this card it's useless. today adel frisks leaving his house to go to a un h.c.l. center office of the united nations high commissioner for refugees getting an appointment with someone there was his only hope of leaving libya without having to risk the mediterranean crossing. is always on his gaunt. dumont every once a policeman in this country you don't know who's one for real but who's the real policeman before sometimes they kidnap us and take us to unknown location is. he always has the g.p.s. activated on his phone and. if i end up in an unknown location

i can inform a brother quicker. than what could they do you never know. if i don't come home at least he'd be able to see where i disappeared and i was it's probably. a day fiza not the only one to risk everything for a meeting with the u.n. h.c.r. dozens of refugees like him awaiting that technically these documents should allow them to receive support. but the doors to the un refugee agency remain closed. was last was. awful they're not going to open up some of my brothers have been waiting here for 3 days from morning till night morning till night for 3 days some even for 4 days and they haven't opened up a. local. like the others adelphi leaves empty handed the u.n.

headquarters is situated in this suburb in tripoli just behind these walls it's impossible to end to this bunco without official authorization. but we managed to secure a meeting with caroline gluck a spokeswoman for the u.n. h.c.r. in libya she says the main reason refugees is stuck here is because few western countries a willing to take them in. we continue to press to be the moral conscience to urge governments to offer more space but where operating and political environments many governments more concerned about public opinion. in 2019 some 46000 refugees were registered in libya less than 2 and a half 1000 were able to leave the country illegally the country in conflicts it's

a country that doesn't recognize that they deserve protection and safety libya is probably one of the worst countries in the world to be a refugee or asylum seeker and there is a very high chance that you will be abused tortured physically. sometimes rape. this abuse most often occurs inside the countries detentions and tis there are dozens of official and clandestine centers throughout libya one of the most notorious detention centers is found in zawiya a port city located around 50 kilometers west of tripoli. both a deaf family and emmanuelle the cameroonian rescued by the ocean viking were detained there. we are still libyan government for permission to take a look inside this and it wasn't granted so we're going to find another way.

on january 7th 2020 a protest in support of the government was organized we approached this man his name is khaled and he's a member of salvias council of elders. ok i think that people from the libyan people will never forget who was on their side and who was against them. we're talking to those who claim to defend freedom. to france. this country was a prime supporter of khalifa haftar the war criminal who wants to stage a coup. i know here con ed is angry he believes the west supports his enemy general khalifa haftar who allegedly bombed zawiyah 10 days prior to this protest khalid says shells landed a few dozen meters from the detention center. to prove this he promises to bring us that. when we arrive in zawiyah khaled is that as

promised but before we can enter the detention center we're told we must meet the man 1st. he has a message for us. sort of you know a sum of money for the. illegal migration is a disaster for the libyan people. libya is suffering because of it. there are thousands and thousands of migrants here and the government is covering their expenses with money that belongs to the libyan people. even though they were colonized by other countries who took their wealth and forced them into poverty. and now they're dying on their way to europe those who are you know. the man has forgotten an important fact. europe has allocated more than 400000000 euros to

libya to help it tackled one migrant crisis. sure. you see in libya we treat the migrants bury humanely and them and that is the nia one of how we do our best to ensure they're treated well and humanely. insanity. then comes the moment we've been waiting for the do is to zawiya as detention center finally open for us. further look if you will just what are you. more than 700 people are housed in this center. like i said the airstrike happened just next door and the

migrants are over here. that points out to man wearing dark glasses and combat fatigues he heads the campus of one of the they just want to film and talk to the prisoners to move the food on the boat. we follow him and discover hundreds of detainees crouching in the cool in their frozen in complete silence. on. the floor you're listening to the. cameras on to the camp's director. so counted to pete's out cool it was. going to be a little too much normally i need official documentation from the ministry of the freedom to retreat to i spoke to the mayor about it yes he called me but i also need to see some authorization it doesn't have to give senator obama that they want to talk about the bombings that took place over there what i want to know yeah they

were all scared that day because that's it. that's what they want to talk about ok they can film and talk to 2 or 3 people you have met you know the you can lead is to get them to talk. about threats over the last 3 or 4 years we've been wrongly accused of being human traffickers and even of keeping the money all these organizations do their business and they intervene in internal affairs they spread chaos throughout libya. they profit from the migration problem and from other problems to be seen at st louis missouri losing we don't even get 5 percent of the money from europe or from these organizations but you should listen to the beneath the music in an attempt to convince us that the camp is a place where he. and right. to this church tent khalid says it's proof that the libyan authorities kindness towards their christian detainees.

shows the positive work that we're doing here to help these people. we simply want to improve their circumstances. and you has to do with what are human. and here comes one of our christian brothers now. are you free to practice your religion comfortably here. yes it's comfortable here we got the opportunity to have a church in this country and we've seized that opportunity so. we respect all the christians here look they have complete freedom. so we take advantage of a moment of distraction to enter the main building where we discover an entirely different reality. didn't help us in.

the detainee we met in the church tent that's a sin there are no gods in sight. thank you for and you should be doing. in this cell hundreds of mattresses and blankets of piled on the floor proof that the detention center is over crowded. and testimonies to the migrants suffering can be seen on the walls. blacks are not slaves in libya. it's the same in all the other cells. if you're. going to have a look at the bathrooms around sanitary they're the only source of water for the hundreds of detainees. this dormitory where the prisoners are all swash together also serves as a kitchen

a portable gas stove is used to prepare the meal of the day popcorn another detainee has some stale bread. in one of the. food. it's difficult to have a proper conversation with this man the people behind us seem to on the of him the further you can be sure here it's ok if you know for the frogs to church and if what you want you want to escape from here you want to go home i think where it's going to i just want 3 buckets for a layer. after a few minutes our absence is noted. the director comes to find us himself he orders us not to use the videos filmed inside the center as this could patrol it in a bad light. back outside we spoke to

a representative from the un refugee agency and approach him. a lot about hitler. who developed a lot more. what was asked in july 2020 the un h.c.l. published a report documenting cases of violence torture and abuse in the african part of the mediterranean migration route including in zawiyah. as he sees us out ahead of the camp confiscates the elastic rope this child was playing with. these videos procured from legal experts in europe were filmed in secret by the detainees the demo bal phones they might be used as proof to initiate legal proceedings in the future. here the detainees are beaten with clubs. in this video shots can be heard from inside the center according to witnesses at

least 4 detainees are said to have been injured on this night. was. to escape this how migrants must either brite the guards with almost 1000 euros worth of libyan dinars to find another way to flee like emmanuelle. we're in barrie italy 3 months after being rescued by the ocean viking crew emmanuelle has found refuge here we can sit down. we show him offer to trim the detention center in zawiya. where you're there. so. even when i was there that was the somali side. oh that's inside the large cell of the end we called it the kosovo. he's referring to the kosovo war in the balkans in the late 1990 s.

. in winter it gets very cold there because it's such a big room that's where they beat you where they abuse you where they do everything they always took us and. sometimes when i was in that huge cell there was only one person in there and that person was the one being tortured so we called that cell the kosovo. men who had also recognizes the heads of the detention center. so that's the bearded man i know him with his hypocritical laugh when organizations n.g.o.s visit the center he pretends to be very nice blah blah blah blah but when they leave it's like hell again he didn't hit me but he slapped a woman in front of me he saw her and he hit her bam in winter he locked up a woman and her baby she had just given birth of the her she. according to him i knew it to be a good man is also the one misappropriating the humanitarian aid. on

the victim there they came to distribute blankets and mattresses after that truck arrived. he made us go out and load all that stuff into the truck the truck left with everything that went your bunch of it so he's diverting humanitarian aid and we yes he said i'm telling you what happened to me he gave us the order in person to load the truck we loaded it and it led to. much i think it's a bunch of. everyone who went through that prison would love to one day find out that it's been destroyed that it no longer exists. that it no longer exists super. cool the european union supports libya since 2017 the e.u. has spent more than 90000000 euros training and equipping the libyan coast gaunt the goal is to catch migrants trying to cross the mediterranean and bring them back

to libya. humanitarian organizations working in this arena regularly prevented from carrying out their operations. we flew over the sea with who say ben event a friend tace on board his clearly break at the age of 50 this professional pilot founded the n.-g. o. p. looked a little or one and treat behind it says he and a friend spent their life savings on this single engine aircraft. the production of it we're about 100 kilometers from the libyan coast if an ngo boat had been in the zone it would have been able to rescue them but for months the authorities have been doing all they can to stop n.g.o.s from coming back out here whenever they arrive at the ports with rescued people on board they're accused of being people smugglers among other clubs and the return to sea is delayed for as long as possible clearly it's to make sure there are no witnesses at the scene of a crime that the people. of her heart.

after a year and a whole flying high could leave breeze missions are also hold to it by an administrative procedure he needs to leave. this time we need to say enough produce his plane is no grounded. security only for we are authorized to go on recreational flights with this aircraft every. target fights over italy and over your. in general it's for the un but we're no longer allowed to fly over international waters over the libyan coast we're not the cooks. we're back aboard the ocean viking tony and his crew from s.o.s. made it tough on me and doctors without borders are once again plying the walshes

off the libyan coast. and shores for our mission is sacred that's what they taught me in the army i'll continue to do this for as long as it's needed for as long as i'm able or until they stop me from doing good for. today the 18th of october 29th marks the 3rd rescue operation of the month it's another overloaded inflatable boat full of men women and children to. feel it's best to kill just. as they climb aboard the ocean viking the 104 rescued people assure that they have secured their freedom however since 2017 at the initiative of the european union a new rescue zone has been established when

a boat is in this sector the libyan coast guards is supposed to intervene and take the migrants back to libya. and this is exactly where the ocean viking is currently on patrol the crew takes the lead by informing both the libyan and the european also routines of their intervention via email. the libyans are the 1st to respond. or does it given to dock at tripoli harbor for the captain and crew that's entirely out of the question. so it's an acceptable where out on the open sea just off the coast of italy and there ha. oddly responding to our messages. we sent an e-mail to the italian coast guard and they told us that it's not up to them to sort this out they're not responsible so where should we go we've been told to go back to libya. so what do we do go back to libya

where there's a war raging you know it's unacceptable that's not what maritime law states. according to maritime law the rescue people must be taken to a safe location unbeknown to everyone on board a power struggle has just broken out between the ocean viking and the e.u. . but days after the rescue the ocean viking gets caught in a storm. the freighter is being buffeted by me to highway. was . we feel bad really bad. for the crew members the tension is also rising. seas we send the 1st force request through it in receiving any reply and just

a few minutes ago i just brought an email asking if they have any feedback or any update for us. and we just wait and. the word wait means going around in circles the ocean viking has become a prisoner of the mediterranean the ship is shuttling back and forth between mull to and the italian island of lampedusa this puts pressure on the all sorts from both countries but all of this back and forth worries the survivors. at the moment we're headed southeast so i'm not going to turn to libya is in the south. the sun all the time it really scares us because we don't want to go south again i'm very sure. they're scared they'll have to return to their past hell it's more than a week after the rescue and there's still no european. that is willing to accept the 104 passengers 2 days later the ocean viking wins the power struggle

italy agrees to in its harbor an agreement has been struck between italy france and germany to take in the 104 passengers the ocean viking heads for the port of puts in sicily possible good water flows i don't know how to define this feeling. so it's it should be systematic and it's not. yes right now it's a relief. but it's not a total relief because next time it could be the same we might have to wait for days again even though it's against the law. so yes right now it's a relief but a huge relief no not yet. it may not be a big relief for the crew but it certainly is for the migrants car bomb was. the next morning after

injuring libya and all its horris after risking their lives at sea the 104 rescued people will finally reach a rep for them this continent means freedom. a welcoming committee comprised of humanitarian aid workers and police officers awaits them one by one the 104 passengers are examined by health professionals. but this mandatory step doesn't prevent some final moments of celebration. 12 days after their rescue the passengers finally set foot on solid ground over the past few years as a less meditative honey and doctors without borders have rescued more than search a 1000 people at sea. but later in july 2020

the ocean viking would be detained in italy. how much longer will such vessels and their humanitarian rescue this be allowed to continue their life saving work on the mediterranean. everything is quiet without art and culture. but boy in a moment. is it possible to experience closeness while social distancing. in a new social togetherness reflected by our it. feels what everyone is missing right now. marks 21. 13 attacks on d w. w's

crime fighters are back quite a bit of africa's most successful radio drama series continues in the fall of the zones are available online to get more so you can share and discuss on w. africa's facebook page and other social media platforms to crime fighters tune in now. life on earth one of a kind and. a gigantic coincidence. where the improbable happen to. the 1st one to the creation of our solar system with our planet is a bit like winning the lottery. one 1st or unique starts feb 11th on t.w. . cut.

cut. this is news live from berlin. cuts off internet access during protests against the military coup. crowds of people took to the streets of the largest city gone on saturday to take over police block protesters using barricades and water can also coming up. over female genital mutilation here in germany a young woman draws on her own painful past to help victims by herself.