--- title: The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death | Time description: Ian Urbina explains how the EU is trying to stem the flow of migrants by creating a shadow immigration system. canonical: https://time.com/6292361/outlaw-ocean-freedom-or-death-time/ author: Ian Urbina article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-07-05T19:26:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:24:58.138Z article:section: Climate og:title: The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death | Time og:description: Ian Urbina explains how the EU is trying to stem the flow of migrants by creating a shadow immigration system. og:url: https://time.com/6292361/outlaw-ocean-freedom-or-death-time/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a201856a374ae58/698a3e67cabb1d92c0e518a5/outlaw-ep10-featured-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: outlaw-ep10-featured-image og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death | Time twitter:description: Ian Urbina explains how the EU is trying to stem the flow of migrants by creating a shadow immigration system. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a201856a374ae58/698a3e67cabb1d92c0e518a5/outlaw-ep10-featured-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death | Time > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=cb28813d-9259-432d-b929-15889f020d60&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death [Watch (HLS stream): The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rqFKe8wM.m3u8) (15:20)  _Published 2023-07-05. Ian Urbina explains how the EU is trying to stem the flow of migrants by creating a shadow immigration system that captures migrants before they reach the high seas and sends them back to Libyan detention centers run by militia._ by [Ian Urbina](https://time.com/author/ian-urbina/) ## Ian Urbina Jul 5, 2023 7:26 PM UTC Ian Urbina explains how the EU is trying to stem the flow of migrants by creating a shadow immigration system that captures migrants before they reach the high seas and sends them back to Libyan detention centers run by militia. by [Ian Urbina](https://time.com/author/ian-urbina/) ## Ian Urbina Jul 5, 2023 7:26 PM UTC ## Transcript [00:03] A member of my team spent five weeks on board a Doctors Without [00:07] Borders, ship filming, their attempts to rescue migrants in [00:10] the Mediterranean and the number of people on board approximately, [00:17] usually we witnessed first-hand the almost daily battle playing [00:30] out near the shores of Europe. [00:35] A desperate race between humanitarian ngos, which has been created. [00:48] Equipped trained and funded by the European Union to intercept [00:53] migrants and turn them away from Europe. [01:02] For the migrants men, women and children. [01:05] Even after making it as far as international waters, [01:09] the real danger awaits, they are taking the ultimate risk on the [01:14] Outlaws. A journey that could be the difference between freedom [01:18] or death. [01:29] Two-thirds of the planet is covered by water. [01:33] It's our planets. [01:35] Wildest Frontier breathtaking, as much as it is vital to all [01:39] life. [01:42] A place of Discovery and endless reinvention a metaphor [01:46] for Freedom as well as a profoundly dystopian route where the [01:50] darkest of all Humanity's play out. [01:55] Over 50 million people work at Sea and human rights and environmental [01:58] abuse has often occur with impunity. [02:10] My name is Ian urbina. [02:11] As a journalist has spent, the past decade reporting from this [02:15] Lawless Frontier. I run an investigative journalism organization [02:20] called The Outlaw ocean project that reports about crimes [02:23] happening in the space. [02:36] This is the outlaw ocean. [02:56] English muffin. [03:05] These people are attempting to sell one of the most treacherous [03:08] routes into Europe, from Libya, across the Mediterranean [03:12] Sea Taylor, a distance of less than 200 miles. [03:30] According to the UN up to 100,000 migrants, [03:33] make this journey every year. [03:35] Although the number of Crossings has recently dropped the death [03:40] toll has seen a steep rise [03:43] Why the swap. [03:47] I need a heat and know how you are about to do a movie [03:50] or something. [04:01] I am, I was idiot YMCA in Seymour WI. [04:23] At the bottom is really messed up. [04:33] Cinemark. [04:51] Good morning. [04:57] The migrants are predominantly from sub-Saharan Africa but also [05:01] Syria and other parts of the Middle East. [05:04] Many of them are fleeing conflict violence and persecution [05:07] or they are climate migrants escaping droughts and famines [05:12] either way, it had few options but to rely on Smugglers [05:16] to get them this far. [05:20] Illuminati. [05:26] Show Fidel Robin. [05:55] Austin Academy, Middle School. [06:00] Lochloosa Minnesota. Have you ever can you place a phoenix? [06:06] Quickest route in Lafayette apartments. [06:13] As the migrants are checked in on board the threats, [06:17] from the Libyan Coast Guard. [06:18] Continue to crack all over the radio. [06:30] The Doctors Without Borders ship is careful to conduct rescues [06:34] only in designated international waters, but this is contested [06:38] by the Coast Guard and we fought in the home, [06:56] mechanic shop [07:15] Dr. David 2011 [07:19] Libyan leader Kadafi was toppled and killed in an Insurrection [07:24] sparked by the Arab Spring and supported by my us. [07:28] LED Invasion news footage and frantic mobile phone videos, [07:32] capture, the country that had descended into chaos as armed [07:37] militia groups began to take control. [07:38] Now, tens of thousands of migrants are using Lydia as a launching [07:43] Point into Europe and the EU has outsourced. [07:47] The job of stopping them to Libya a failed state. [07:50] Run by militias in only one Williams. [07:58] What are the symptoms? [08:03] The UN police militia groups fighting each other in Tripoli [08:06] are involved in the lucrative trafficking trade of African [08:09] migrants to Europe them. [08:10] Have close ties with the country's EU funded Libyan Coast Guards. [08:17] The European Union, wary of the financial and political [08:20] costs of receiving. [08:21] Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa has equipped and trained [08:25] the Libyan Coast Guard. [08:26] They effectively function as the eu's shadow immigration [08:30] system. A quasi-military organization that patrols the Mediterranean [08:36] sabotaging humanitarian rescue operations and capturing [08:40] migrants before they reach European soil. [08:44] OK, Google [08:59] there was [09:04] North High cartoon. [09:13] We were able to identify this as a drone owned by the EU. [09:18] Backed frontex agency and capable of operating continuously [09:23] for up to 45 hours, a fundraiser [09:28] Go until my ship and go back up there. [09:34] The front X agency maintains in the r constant surveillance [09:37] of the Mediterranean through drones like this. [09:40] When it detects the migrant boat, it sends photographs [09:44] and location information. [09:45] The local government agencies and other partners in the region, [09:49] but does not typically inform humanitarian vessels. [09:53] Yeah, I'm coming around 6. [10:15] Oh yeah. [10:19] Once the Coast Guard has the coordinates, [10:21] it raises the boats. [10:23] Sometimes firing on migraines or directing warning, [10:27] shots IQ manitary and chips. [10:30] Is Mandarin a major relay medal relay. [10:46] The shooting gallery. [10:51] Superintendent. Please keep that distance at the keeper. [11:00] The EU in Libya claim, they're rescuing migrants from drowning [11:04] the truth. However, is that they're actually arresting [11:08] people in international waters and returning them to prisons [11:12] in a war zone where extortion, rape and murder are common [11:18] Play Barry White. [11:49] I visited Libya and seen firsthand. [11:51] The detention camps at the captured, migrants are returned [11:55] to this is Drone footage. [11:57] I filmed at the alma Bonnie camp and the scared and abused [12:01] detainees. [12:06] A portion of EU money has gone to support. [12:09] What has become a modern-day Gulag a prison system that the UN [12:14] is classified as a mounting to possible crimes against humanity. [12:20] And back on the Doctors Without Borders ship a Sudanese [12:23] migrant testified to the conditions in these camps. [12:28] Call Don White soccer. [12:29] Elimination. [13:15] Walmart. [13:42] These people's futures lie in limbo stranded at Sea until country. [13:48] Will grant them permission to dock their hopes and dreams [13:51] for freedom. And a better life is fueling a multimillion-dollar [13:55] business where militia groups profit from brutal, [13:58] detention centers and Mafia coast guards act with impunity. [14:02] One thing is clear as European. [14:06] Governments remain committed to Auntie migrant programs [14:09] in Libya. The true implications of such policies will continue [14:14] to happen out of sight and in the blind spot that is the outlaw [14:18] ocean. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6292361/outlaw-ocean-freedom-or-death-time/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6292361/outlaw-ocean-freedom-or-death-time/"},"headline":"The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death | Time","datePublished":"2023-07-05T19:26:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:24:58.138Z","description":"Ian Urbina explains how the EU is trying to stem the flow of migrants by creating a shadow immigration system.","url":"https://time.com/6292361/outlaw-ocean-freedom-or-death-time/","keywords":["Oceans","video"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a201856a374ae58/698a3e67cabb1d92c0e518a5/outlaw-ep10-featured-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ian Urbina","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ian-urbina/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a201856a374ae58/698a3e67cabb1d92c0e518a5/outlaw-ep10-featured-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"outlaw-ep10-featured-image","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/oceans/","name":"Oceans"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6292361/outlaw-ocean-freedom-or-death-time/","name":"The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death | Time"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Outlaw Ocean Ep. 10 | Freedom or Death","description":"Ian Urbina explains how the EU is trying to stem the flow of migrants by creating a shadow immigration system that captures migrants before they reach the high seas and sends them back to Libyan detention centers run by militia.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/rqFKe8wM/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-07-05T16:13:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rqFKe8wM.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6292361/outlaw-ocean-freedom-or-death-time/","duration":"PT15M20S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6292361/outlaw-ocean-freedom-or-death-time/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```