My Fourth Time, We Drowned

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The Western world has largely abandoned migrants, leaving them to face one of history's most severe humanitarian crises. Reporter Sally Hayden received a desperate message from an Eritrean refugee trapped in a Libyan detention center amid chaos from warring factions. This message led her to uncover a vast human rights disaster. Through groundbreaking investigative journalism, Hayden provides an in-depth account of the migrant crisis in North Africa, drawing from interviews with hundreds of refugees and migrants who attempted to reach Europe but found themselves stranded in Libya after the EU began funding interceptions in 2017. The narrative offers an intimate look at the lives of detainees and critiques the failures of NGOs and the United Nations, whose disregard for international standards will resonate through history. Most importantly, the work highlights the resilience of those affected: despite years of imprisonment, refugees and migrants find love, support one another, and engage in small acts of resistance to survive in a system designed to silence and erase them.