Farid said the warring factions were stealing food aid and selling it.
“That's why so many are dying in al-Fashir. They are starving.”
On his way from Sudan, Farid passed through Kufra, an isolated area in southeastern Libya where mass graves containing the bodies of scores of migrants have been discovered. Kufra is controlled by rival armed groups, representing the Arab Zway majority and the ethnic Tebu minority.
When he arrived outside Kufra, Farid found hundreds of Sudanese refugees crowded by the roadside seeking assistance.
He was offered a mattress and some food by Libyan authorities, but in return he was forced to work long hours collecting plastic waste for recycling. He was paid nothing.
When he complained, he was told that if he caused any problems, he would be sold to a rival militia or worse.
“Kufra is a tribal area. And we are slaves in their land,” Farid said, his voice trembling.
“They make us fight for them or sell us into forced labour. If you refuse, they can take your organs and bury you by the road.”
**'Snakes and ladders'**
According to the UN refugee agency, there are more than 210,000 Sudanese refugees in Libya, accounting for 73% of all refugees. Hundreds more arrive each day.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been torn by factional conflict and is a major route for migrants fleeing war and poverty.
Most Sudanese arrive through Kufra, then move north to cities like Ajdabiya in the east or the coastal capital Tripoli.
Many, like Farid, are abused and women, in particular, face extreme violence.
“I saw a girl being beaten and raped. They killed her and left her on the street,” Farid said. “The mother took her body back to Sudan. She'd rather die in the war than stay in Libya.”
Ahmed, a 19-year-old Sudanese man also using a pseudonym, said he was held captive in a smuggler's warehouse near Zawiya, a northwestern coastal city, for four months.
“There's a chain of detention centres that you work your way through, from Kufra in the south to Zawiya or Ain Zara in the north. You have to pay for your release each time. If you get caught again, you start over, like a game of snakes and ladders.”
**EU funds**
Ahmed said the Libyan coastguard ran a “small boat lottery”, with the fate of a migrant depending on the fee they paid.
He said fees could range up to $15,000 per crossing, with those who pay more — often Egyptians or Syrians — getting better treatment and having more chance of success than those who pay less, often including Sudanese and Eritreans.
Since 2015, the EU has allocated more than €465m (R9.2bn) to Libya through the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa as part of efforts to stem the flow of migrants into southern Europe.
More than half of the allocation is to support the protection of migrants, including their humanitarian return and evacuation. The remainder supports border management efforts, including the provision of equipment and training.
Rights groups say the EU policy of farming out immigration control to third countries in return for aid leads to abuse and fails to address underlying issues.