[boat motor] [yelling] [radio chatter] - [inaudible] [yelling] [radio chatter] November 6, 2017, around 150 migrants leave Tripoli aboard a flimsy raft desperate to reach Europe and start new lives. Many of them will drown, the result of decisions made by politicians far away in European capitals. Most are fleeing violence and economic desperation in sub-Saharan Africa. And once in Libya, they face new dangers like torture and human trafficking. But to escape to Europe and to safety, they must first cross the Mediterranean Sea. Smugglers forced them onto dangerously overcrowded and fragile rafts. Over the next eight hours, the sea becomes rougher, and the raft starts taking on water. Many passengers fall into the sea, some without jackets. The migrants’ best hope for rescue is their satellite phone. They call the Italian Coast Guard for help. The Italians then alert all ships in the area to the raft’s approximate location. They also contact their go-to partner, the Libyan Coast Guard, and by the time anyone arrives, the migrant craft is just outside of Libya’s waters. In 2016, the European Union and Italy made an abrupt decision to outsource rescue operations here to a new partner, the Libyan Coast Guard. It’s a policy with deadly consequences. Together with the research groups Forensic Oceanography and Forensic Architecture, we reconstructed the events of November 6 to show you how this one decision cost at least 20 lives on a single day. Two hours after being contacted by the Europeans, the Libyan Coast Guard vessel arrives first on scene. We have blurred the migrants’ faces to protect them from retaliation. Watch how close the Libyan vessel gets to the raft, ignoring standard rescue tactics. Some migrants are pulled under. [yelling] We obtained footage from this Libyan’s phone. [screams] [yelling] This is Sea-Watch, a German humanitarian rescue operation. They’ve also been contacted by the Italians and arrive a few minutes after the Libyans. Sea-Watch positions themselves at a safe distance. Sea-Watch is also recording with nine video cameras and photos because the Libyan Coast Guard has a history of violence towards volunteer rescue groups. They quickly dispatch their small speedboats to reach victims. “Everything started quite early in the morning. We got a first message about this situation. They also warned us about the presence of the Libyan Coast Guard. They told me that I should tell the crew to be careful and that we should take all measures against aggressions from the Libyan Coast Guard. Of course, the first things coming to my mind are like, O.K., what are their intentions? Are they letting us rescue the people, or are they going to threaten us? Are they even going to attack us with weapons? Is my crew safe from this moment?” Sea-Watch immediately starts making split-second decisions about who to rescue first. Migrants are scattered in every direction. It’s impossible to reach everyone at once. [yelling] “It was such a chaotic rescue situation. There are a lot of different things in the water, and then you see, O.K., it’s a body. So we have to go there directly. We have to be there, now.” “These people normally can’t swim. Drowning is like a thing of 30 seconds or maybe a minute.” “There was so much people in the waters. We tried to rescue all of them, but there were — there were a big distance between them.” At this moment, the frame shows at least nine people in immediate need of assistance. Many more are out of view. Amidst the chaos, Sea-Watch notices a desperate hand that is nearly within reach. One of the rescued migrants jumps in to save him, but it’s too late Meanwhile, the Libyans continue to hinder rather than help the rescue operation. And if you’re wondering why the Libyans even show up at all, it’s mainly to fulfill a deal with the EU that keeps funding and resources coming their way. Saving lives doesn’t seem to be at the top of their list. “There were like 12 soldiers. They were just standing there and were screaming. We tried to communicate with them that they should just be silent. When they’re silent, you can at least hear what other people are screaming.” As the rescue continues, the Libyans turn increasingly confrontational. It’s part of a longstanding pattern of threatening humanitarian workers. This is Europe’s preferred humanitarian partner in action. The Libyans have even boarded other NGO ships by force and fired on them. [gunfire] These past incidents are on the minds of Sea-Watch as they approach the Libyans on November 6. “I think that altogether the threat level in the minds of our crews is very high. The driver of the speedboat said that they are facing big aggressions from the Libyans. They said they’re threatening to shoot us. They made signs like this and like holding like weapons like this.” Suddenly, the Libyans began hurling hard objects and potatoes at the Sea-Watch group. “It’s not only a potato. It’s like a very physical attack on — on one of our crew members, and that makes me very angry.” The threats escalate. “Anybody onboard?” Sea-Watch is forced to retreat for their own safety. Without Sea-Watch filling in the gaps, the incompetence of the Libyans’ rescue efforts is on full display. “They can’t do anything because they have no capability of taking people who are already in the water to the ship.” This man begins to sink. His life could be saved if the Libyans deployed the raft mounted on their vessel. But they claim it’s broken. They throw life jackets, but it’s not enough. He drowns. “The Libyan Coast Guard, it’s — they’re — it’s not a rescue boat. It’s just a warship, but they don’t have the speedboats. They don’t have a medical treatment area. They don’t have doctors. There’s no chance for a good rescue.” Botched rescues like this were almost unimaginable just a few years ago when European countries were still leading rescue efforts. Between 2013 and 2014, Italy alone saved more than 100,000 lives. But then everything changed. Nationalism and anti-immigrant fervor spiked. So Europe decided to stop the flow of migrants at any cost without getting its hands dirty. It’s a cynical solution, outsourcing the responsibility to the coast guard of what is essentially a failed state. The EU provides the Libyans with millions in equipment and training. Italy even helped repair the very ship used in this rescue and paraded it in front of the media to make it seem like they solved the crisis. But they haven’t. 8 of the 13 Libyans manning the November 6 rescue received EU training, including on human rights. Yet they blatantly abused the migrants onboard their vessel. Many migrants frantically jump back into the water, even though some can’t swim. [yelling] After being beaten, this man jumps from the ship. He clings to the ladder. The Libyan ship still takes off, ignoring all pleas to stop. [yell] [music] An Italian Navy helicopter realizes their partners have gone too far and intervenes. Only then do the Libyans pull him back onboard. The fate of those who survive hinges on which boat they end up on. Those rescued by Sea-Watch will be taken to safety — [music] — while those on the Libyan boat are taken to detention centers, where migrants are often beaten, raped, held for ransom, or sold for slave labor. We tracked down two of the migrants who were brought back to Libya, and we interviewed them by phone. These two Nigerians, a student and a waiter, later escaped the detention camp. They spoke to us from a secret location, where they were hiding. One of the migrants eventually escaped and reached Europe. The other remains trapped in Libya. “The Libyan Coast Guard is not rescuing these people. They’re endangering these people in the moment, and they’re killing people. It’s an act of murder in the end. In Europe, we know we can’t kill people at our border, but if Libyans do that, it’s Libya. And it’s Africa, and then, yeah, Africa is a sad story, and then we can live with that. But still, it’s European money who’s leading to people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. Every European citizen should be very upset actually with this kind of approach.” Europe likes to think it is a beacon of tolerance and human rights. But its actions tell a different story. [music]