Ross Kemp has revealed his hopes for his latest documentary ‘Libya’s Migrant Hell’, which concludes his current Sky One series ‘Extreme Worlds’.
The actor-turned-journalist and his crew were the first Western filmmakers to travel to across Libya’s desert and track the journeys migrants make before arriving at the Mediterranean sea, and speaking on ‘BUILD’, he explained why he hopes to change the public’s perception of migrants.
When asked if this was one of his specific aims when making the episode, he said: “Yes, people have said to me - because I said we have an obligation to try and help these people - they say, ‘Is that because of Britain taking part in the bombing of Libya?’
“But it’s not really about that. It’s about the fact that if you’re a human being, you’re a human being.
“If you see someone fall over on the road, I would try and pick them up. If I drove past a car accident and saw someone in distress, I would stop.
“So I don’t think it’s about the fact that we’re British or we’re not British, it’s about the fact that we’re human being.
“You could see yourself being them, and I think that’s what comes through the film. They talk in a very normal, understandable way, they’re not the ‘fiends’ that they’ve been portrayed as in some areas of the media, or the ‘hordes’ that some politicians have called them.
A number of detractors have already tweeted Ross asking why he’s made the documentary, and when asked about his hopes for what these early critics might take away from tuning in, he replied: “[To] understand the problem, before you make rush judgements about migration.
“Listen to these people and try to understand them, and then, as human beings hopefully we can come to a solution.”
‘Ross Kemp: Libya’s Migrant Hell’ airs on Sky One on Tuesday 21 February.