In conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Sally Hayden – author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route – discusses the various detention centers across Libya and sketches the profiles of the people detained in them; reflects on her ambition of centering the voices of the victims and her dilemmas concerning what to release and what not to release about their cruel treatment; addresses the role and responsibility of the European Union in the emergence and maintenance of these lawless environments, and how media and politicians have related to the results of her detailed investigations; and raises the question of accountability and how the dire situation of the victims could be improved.

Sally Hayden is an award-winning journalist and photographer currently focused on migration, conflict, and humanitarian crises. She has acted as the Africa correspondent for The Irish Times and has worked with a host of leading international media, including the BBC, CNN International, The Guardian, The New York Times, Die Zeit, or Al Jazeera. She is the recipient of a host of awards and has just been awarded the prestigious Orwell Prize for Political Writing for My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route.

In collaboration with Lucie Hunter