Between May 2009 and 2010 many hundreds of African migrants were intercepted in the Strait of Sicily and sent back to Libya by the Italian navy and coast guard; following agreements between Gheddafi and Berlusconi, all migrant boats were systematically escorted back to Libya, where there were no civil rights and the police was free to engage in every sort of abuse. It has never been known what really happened to the boat people as they were being returned to Libya because no journalists were allowed on the ships and all witnesses were afterwards detained in Libya. In March of 2011, when civil war broke out in Libya, everything changed. Thousands of African migrants escaped, including some Ethiopian, Eritrean and Somali refugees who had earlier been repulsed by Italy and sought refuge in the UNHCR camp in Shousha, Tunisia, where the two directors encountered them.
