Classroom visuals
Film info
Film summary
The desperation to seek out a new life in Libya or beyond leads many people to attempt one of the most dangerous illegal migration routes out of Africa...Key facts
- Every year, thousands of migrants cross the Sahara, leaving from the western African country of Niger in search of a better life in Libya or Europe.
- The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, over 1600 kilometres wide.
- Some migrants attempt to cross the Sahara on foot, while others are trafficked within convoys of vehicles.
- Even if migrants succeed in crossing the Sahara, they risk being arrested and held in detention centres.
Transcript
Sahara Desert, Africa
Each year, thousands of migrants try to cross the Sahara desert.
In search of a better life in Libya, or Europe.
But this route out of Africa is one of the most dangerous, illegal immigration journeys in the world.
The migrants' journey begins in the desert city of Agadez, in Niger.
From there they must cross the Sahara, the world's largest hot desert – over 1600 kilometres wide.
On the other side lies Tripoli – the capital of Libya, and the sea route to Europe.
Migrants wish to leave Africa for different social, political and economic reasons.
Seeking a better quality of life in another country.
United Nations estimates that at any one time:
Up to 200 million migrants worldwide
3.3% of world's population
Many migrants make the arduous journey on foot.
Others are transported in vehicle convoys, led by people traffickers.
This is one of the hottest places on Earth, and dehydration can kill.
Summer temperatures reach over 50°C
Justice Amin, Desert Survivor – "If your water finished on the road. If I told you that you'll drink your urine, you'll not do it. But on the desert you will drink your urine, you know, you will keep and drink it. Because you're thirsty. Because you don't want to die."
There is no record of how many migrants die trying to cross the desert, but the route is littered with bodies.
If they survive the heat, the illegal migrants face desert police patrols, who await them on the Libyan border.
Descendants of desert tribesmen, the patrolmen are trained in tracking immigrants.
If captured, the migrants are held in detention centres like this one.
But with 3500 miles of border to patrol, many migrants make it to Tripoli.
The migrants must now choose to either settle in Libya, or risk a dangerous illegal sea crossing to Europe.
From here, they may simply be returned back to Africa, having made the 1600 kilometre journey in vain.
