Eyes wide with terror and desperation, the men look at us from their dinghy.
There are dozens of them packed together, legs hanging over the edge, clinging on to each other.
The dinghy is out of fuel and is bobbing helplessly on the water.
It's pitch black and the sea is terrifyingly dark, lit only by a spotlight.
"Help us! help us!" the men are shouting desperately.
EAST LIBYA: EUROPE'S SMUGGLING FRONTLINE
By Alex Crawford, special correspondent
As the coastguard ship we're on pulls up alongside, the men scramble out.
Their dinghy is deflating. It's filling up with water, and some of them are already up to their knees.
They pull themselves aboard, climbing over each other in the fight to escape.
Several stumble on deck with black inner tubes slung over one shoulder, which appear to have been serving as flimsy makeshift life jackets. Some collapse in front of us.
The men had been on the dinghy in the Mediterranean for four days and nights - they're dehydrated and utterly exhausted.
They don't realise yet that their dreams of safety in Europe have just been shattered.
We're about 70 miles from the Greek islands of Gavdos and Crete, and at this point they still believe they've been rescued by a crew who will take them there.
But they have been picked up by the East Libyan Coastguard on a patrol for those illegally crossing from North Africa.
Several thank us as they beg for water to drink.
"I can speak English. I can speak French," one young man tells us.
He tries to convince us he will be an asset in any European country. He's exhausted but seems to be high on adrenaline at the prospect of landing in Europe.
"You're with the East Libyan coastguard," we tell him. "You're being taken away from Greece and back to Libya."
He doesn't believe us at first and we repeat the information several times.
The news begins to dawn on the other passengers. Most are from Sudan, where one of the world's worst humanitarian crises is unfolding.
There's rising terror and despair.
"I'd rather die in the ocean. I'm not going back to Sudan or Libya."
But it's hopeless to resist.
"If we hadn't rescued you, you'd all be dead," one of the ship's crew tells the passengers.
The sun rises on the journey back.
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Five hours later, we reach Tobruk, where the dinghy first set off.
The passengers, now desolate and resigned, walk off in single file to be processed.
Many have attempted this crossing multiple times. They know the deal.
Processing at the port
Processing at the port
They'll be taken to a detention centre in East Libya for an indefinite amount of time and then deported back to the warzone which is their homeland.
Suddenly, there's a cry as one of the men makes a run for it. He's using every ounce of energy he has left to make a dash for the harbour gates.
One man makes a run for it when they get back to shore
It's pointless. Within minutes, he's captured, sobbing, thrashing his arms about, distraught. His brush with death on the sea, the pain, the terror, the money his family have spent on this dangerous trip, have all been for nothing.
He has his life, but right now he feels it is not worth living.
SMUGGLERS JUNCTION
The Arab market in Tobruk is the smugglers junction, where those who want to make it to the UK and Europe meet those who can make it happen.
It is heaving with young men from north Africa.
"They all want to cross the sea to Europe," Commander Abdul Salam Buker of the Anti-Illegal Migration Unit tells us.
Commander Abdul Salam Buker checks papers
Commander Abdul Salam Buker checks papers
The young men are strewn along the pavements and far outnumber the local Libyans.
Many of them are sleeping rough in abandoned or half-built structures with few, if any, facilities.
Many tell us they're from Sudan, and several admit they're waiting for the call from smuggler contacts before heading out on a small dinghy and making the potentially deadly sea crossing to Europe.
🎥In the video below, Alex Crawford is shown the conditions migrants are living in due to poverty:
"United Kingdom, here we come," one young man playfully tells us, smiling.
"We want to work," another says. "We want to help our families."
"If we go back to Sudan, perhaps we die," another man says. "We are young. We don’t want to die."
None see a future in Libya.
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"They treat us like criminals," a university student tells us. "They should treat us like refugees, with humanity."
As the officers from the Illegal Migration Unit stand by, one man tells us: "They arrest us and beat us without reason".
The unit we're with view it differently.
Commander Buker says Europe should do more to help
Commander Buker says Europe should do more to help
"I have a lot of sympathy for those who are trying to escape war," Commander Buker says.
"We Libyans have been through war. We know what it is like. But they don't want to stay in Libya. They want to go to Europe."
Tobruk has opened up as the new route from North Africa to Europe.
"It is the season," Commander Buker explains. "When the weather is good, this happens every day."
The numbers are overwhelming for the East Libyans and the message we're continually told is that they see this as Europe's challenge, not theirs.
To understand how Libya became the capital of the world's people-smuggling business, you have to go back to the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.
Libya descended into anarchy and still remains fractured, with rival administrations in the east and west of the nation.
There is an internationally recognised government based in Tripoli in the west.
Crippled by corruption and violence, the west is also teeming with competing militias, heavily armed with weapons left over from the 2011 battles.
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Pic: Reuters
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Pic: Reuters
Many are now running smuggling, kidnapping and extortion rackets and are involved in illegally selling oil, as well as humans.
In a country with a population of around six million, there are believed to be about 20 million weapons.
The power vacuum which followed the fall of Gaddafi allowed extremist groups like Islamic State (IS) to flourish.
This opened the door to a former Gaddafi commander called General Khalifa Haftar to step in and set up a military base in Benghazi, in the east.
General Khalifa Haftar. Pic: Reuters
General Khalifa Haftar. Pic: Reuters
General Haftar – who'd helped in the revolution after turning against his former boss - was seen as a hero by many Libyans when he managed to drive IS out of Benghazi and the east.
He demonstrated his ambitions for commanding the entire country after making an abortive attempt to storm Tripoli and topple the government there in 2019.
General Haftar has consolidated his power in the east by also securing control of most of the south, which is home to the bulk of the country's large oil reserves.
This now leaves him ruling over about 75% to 80% of Libyan territory.
But both the east and west administrations have their share of critics.
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime says law enforcement across Libya take bribes from smugglers and "use their influence over the smuggling ecosystem for political leverage".
Libyan rebels fire an anti-aircraft gun at government forces during the civil war.
Libyan rebels fire an anti-aircraft gun at government forces during the civil war.
HUNTING FOR SMUGGLERS
"We're waiting for a call," Commander Buker tells us.
We're parked on the side of a road in Tobruk alongside several pick-up trucks loaded with heavily-armed officers from the Anti-Illegal Migration Unit.
The calls from informants or watching witnesses are always last-minute and require the officers to be ready to spring into action.
They have a small amount of time to respond and stop small boats from launching from a long coastline pitted with dozens and dozens of coves where smugglers and their human cargo stay hidden.
The smugglers have previously locked up their passengers in empty farmhouses or warehouses while they wait for a safe window - calm weather and no anti-migration officers.
The call comes through and suddenly the convoy is racing through the streets to their target.
The trail leads to a disused farm building.
There are no smugglers - but the officers find a group of terrified Sudanese people, including women and young boys.
They tell us they've been abandoned by the smugglers they paid to transport them from Sudan, across Egypt, through the desert, and finally across the sea to Greece.
"We've waited here for two days," one of them tells us.
They tell us they've paid the smuggling network thousands to get them this far.
Migrant routes from Sudan to Greece
Migrant routes from Sudan to Greece
They're dusty and tired, and Commander Buker believes they're another group which has been exploited by a ruthless smuggling network.
Few of the officers want to comment on any Libyan involvement and continually point to the transnational criminal network outside of the country.
But it's hard to believe the group was able to get this far without a Libyan connection.
The night isn't over, and the armed unit keeps on searching.
More information leads them to a locked building, which they smash their way into.
They find two boxed dinghies with motors ready to be fitted.
The plastic boats will probably be loaded with about fifty to sixty passengers, we're told, netting the smugglers about $150,000.
People-smuggling is one of Libya's most lucrative businesses.
Outboard motors were discovered
Outboard motors were discovered
THE DETENTION CENTRES
East Libya is a transit point through which tens of thousands who dream of a life in Europe are smuggled – and the authorities here want us to see the scale of the issue.
It's clear they also want to tell the world they are open for business.
Commanders and officials repeatedly tell us how they want EU funding to help stem the flow of illegal migration.
That includes agreements, financial and technical help, and official political recognition – just like those afforded to their rivals in the west of the country.
"This is not our problem," says General Salah al Khifify, head of the East Libyan Anti-Illegal Migration Department.
"This is Europe's problem, but it is us who are left to deal with it. We cannot do it all on our own."
Most migrants we've spoken to have come from Sudan, while many others have been from Eritrea.
Statistics show there are also many coming from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Egypt and as far afield as Bangladesh.
'This is Europe's problem,' says General Salah al Khifify
'This is Europe's problem,' says General Salah al Khifify
General Khifify says East Libyan authorities are stopping 80% of illegal migration, but "the people travelling here do not want to stay in Libya".
"They want to go to Europe – to Greece, Italy, UK. We need Europe to do its part to help."
What's left unsaid and hangs in every conversation we have is how much higher the illegal migration flows to Europe might be if authorities do not interrupt smugglers.
While being shown round the region's immigration detention centres near Benghazi we're escorted by a large group of officers, so it's hard to say how comfortable the detainees feel talking.
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Several of the women have children and say they've been raped by smugglers.
One young woman from Eritrea tells us she was worried about being left pregnant by her rapist.
"I'm not pregnant, but I don't know yet about HIV. They're still waiting to tell me," she says, motioning towards the guards.
Her face covered in tears, she says: "Every girl here has tales of sex or something."
Two Nigerians accused of people smuggling are brought before us.
"They say we are buying and selling," one tells us.
"Buying and selling what?" I ask.
"Women," comes the reply.
They insist they've been set up. It's impossible to know in the short time we are allowed inside what the truth is, but the detainees have no access to lawyers or family.
The accused men
The accused men
None we speak to know how long they will be left inside the centres, and several say they have been moved around several detention centres for multiple months.
One said he'd been held for nearly a year. The centre's management tells us the detainees are typically held at the Benghazi centre for an average of one or two months.
But several of the detainees seem to contradict this.
THE IMPLICIT THREAT
As Europe struggles to cope with the flow of migration, General Haftar's regime has spotted an opportunity.
"Every time [migration] statistics go up, they trigger a panic in Italy or Greece," human rights expert Jalal Harchaoui tells us.
"All of a sudden the Europeans become much nicer and much more apt to offer all kinds of gifts and incentives."
The Italian government's controversial deal with West Libya's government to intercept illegal boats at sea and return migrants to their home countries is constantly referred to.
In the east, the deal is viewed as a lucrative business venture and they now want a slice of the cake.
From its own deals with Europe, General Haftar's regime would also want recognition of sovereignty over the territory they hold, Mohammad Eljarh, an expert on Libyan affairs, tells us.
General Haftar meeting Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in May
General Haftar meeting Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in May
Mr Eljarh says: "As a parallel government that Europe doesn't recognise, they will always tell me 'why should we do anything to stop this?'
"'We are under-resourced. We don’t have the manpower to deal with something like this."
That may well be the warning as well as the implicit threat which could prompt more controversial 'pullback' business deals with the different authorities in Libya, internationally-recognised or not.
Responding to our report on behalf of the East Libyan authorities, Lt Gen Essam Mohammed Abu Zariba said the detention centres "operate in accordance with the laws and regulations in force".
"We are keen to ensure that no legal violations or human-rights abuses occur inside these centres, and we affirm that all residents there—who are irregular migrants—are treated in a manner befitting human dignity," he said.
"Nevertheless, we do not rule out the possibility that there may be individual violations by some members," he added.
"If such acts occur, they do not represent the ministry's approach, and those responsible are fully subject to legal accountability once the charges against them are proven."
Lt Gen Zariba described claims that East Libya is attempting to use the migration crisis to manipulate the West as "entirely false".
CREDITS
Reporting: Alex Crawford, special correspondent
Production and photography: Chris Cunningham, specialist producer
Camera operator: Garwen McLuckie
Local producer: Osama Alfitori
Shorthand production: Michael Drummond, foreign news reporter
Editing: Adam Parris-Long, assistant editor
Design: Luan Leer, Louis Dyson, Nathan Griffith
Agency images: Reuters, Associated Press
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