For Taieb, Noman and Hafiz, it was "destiny" that reunited them on a rescue boat in the middle of the Mediterranean after a harrowing stretch in Libyan detention centres.
As the Ocean Viking operated by charity group SOS Mediterranee awaits a port of entry to disembark the 180 migrants fleeing Libya it has saved in the past week, some of those rescued are rediscovering friends they imagined were long-lost during the arduous voyage in search of a better life in Europe.
"These faces that you see inside, you´ll never forget them," said Arslan Ahmid, a 24-year-old Pakistani, speaking of the men who, like himself, were held in detention centres in Libya that human rights groups have condemned as inhumane. Ahmid and his friends spoke to an AFP reporter aboard the European charity ship. Whether cramped aboard the small wooden boats used to escape from Libya, or during the first chaotic post-rescue hours on the Ocean Viking, migrants have had little opportunity -- or energy -- to take much note of their fellow passengers.