Tripoli: Elias, a teenager from Benin, spends hour after hour under a bridge in Libya`s capital waiting for menial day jobs to bring him closer to a new life in Europe.
Whenever a car stops, Elias and dozens of other migrants make a dash for it, ready to accept just about any job on offer.
In fluent English, he explains his simple plan.
"I need to fight for my future, that`s why I am here, and to get money. When I get enough money, I will go to Europe," says the 18-year-old, sporting a yellow T-shirt and brown cap.
"The sea is dangerous, but when I get an opportunity I will go. When you cross the sea, sometimes you fail, sometimes you win. I have to prepare myself first," he says, stoically.
Like thousands of other migrants, he is labouring in Libya to scrape together enough cash to pay the people traffickers for a perilous journey on one of their rickety boats across the Mediterranean to the affluence and security of Europe.
The lucky ones are rescued and transferred onwards, but others perish at sea or are intercepted and returned to war-strewn Libya.
Migrants detained by Libyan authorities are held at 16 centres across the country to await deportation. Around 7,000 people are currently in such facilities.
For the past three months since he reached Libya via Algeria, Elias has shared a small room with three other migrants for a monthly rent of 150 dinars, around $110 or 100 euros."When there`s no work, I sit in my room and listen to the music I like. I like hiphop and R&B, I like Chris Brown and Tupac," he says.
Elias also has a passion for football, which he watches on YouTube.
"I used to play football with my friends in Benin, but I don`t do that here. I miss playing football, but I miss my friends more," he confides.
The young Beninese man says he left behind his parents, four brothers and two sisters because he could find no work to make a living.
In Tripoli, he can make 50 dinars ($37) for a long day`s work.
"Sometimes they pay me, sometimes they don`t. It depends on the character," he says.
Amnesty International on Monday highlighted the grim reality of migrant workers in Libya, where cruelty and abuse drive them to risk their lives in dangerous Mediterranean crossings.
"The ghastly conditions for migrants, coupled with spiralling lawlessness and armed conflicts raging within the country, make clear just how dangerous life in Libya is today," said Amnesty`s Philip Luther.
"With no legal avenues to escape and seek safety, they are forced to place their lives in the hands of smugglers who callously extort, abuse and attack them," Luther said.Elias himself was robbed of around $2,100 in savings when gunmen broke into his room and made off with cash and mobile phones.
"I am starting again from zero," he says. "In this country, life is not fair. This country is in war, but I am here. Why? Because of money."
Elias remains optimistic nevertheless, and has a clear vision of his future.
"Maybe I will become a businessman one day. I want to get married one day also and have kids," he says.
Libya, with a coastline of 1,770 kilometres (more than 1,000 miles), has for years been a stepping stone for Africans seeking a better life in Europe, with most heading for Italy.
The situation deteriorated after the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with people smugglers taking advantage of the chaos that has gripped Libya to boost their lucrative trade.
The United Nations says that more than 110,000 migrants transited Libya in 2014 en route to Europe.
More than 5,000 have died trying to reach Europe`s shores over the past 18 months.
On April 19, some 750 people drowned when their trawler sank between Libya and southern Italy, sparking global outrage and demands for action.
