Journey to Libya
You flee to Beirut. You managed to make contact with a smuggler before leaving and he has told you to catch a flight to Algiers - Syrians don't need a visa to get into Algeria but each adult supposedly has to carry a minimum of $4,000 cash. You are to meet the smuggler there. The smugglers know you have a large amount of cash on you, making you particularly vulnerable.
The journey continues from Algiers through the Algerian desert, where, in the middle of nowhere, you are handed to another group of smugglers that demand more money. If you refuse you will most likely die in the desert, so you pay.
You reach the Libyan border scared and exhausted. Once there you have to decide whether to continue with the next section of your trip - $1,000 buys a place on a cramped fishing boat heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Will you pay the money? You have heard that many people who have done so have ended up drowning because the boats cannot take the load. Maybe the risk is too much for you?
