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But he insists viewersshould not be distracted from the focus of the film which highlights the suffering of refugees fleeing their homes

Hes been shot at by ISIS fighters in the Middle East, met arms dealers in Lebanon and gone eyeball to eyeball with the worlds most notorious gangs but, for Ross Kemp, Libya presented his most deadly challenge of all.

In terms of risk, what I witnessed and the difficulty of getting in and out in one piece, this was the hardest film weve ever made, admits the Bafta-winning filmmaker, 52.

Sky

Weve been shot at and I saw some horrific things in Afghanistan, but I was always embedded with the Kurds, the British Army, Royal Marines or American Marines. In Libya, we were on our own.

We were vulnerable and exposed.

Ross and his film crew found themselves in the middle of a 12-hour armed stand-off between rival tribes in the south of Tripoli, with the threat of being kidnapped as a high-value target.

But Ross insists people should not be distracted from the focus of his documentary the suffering of refugees trying to make it to Europe by a celebrity in peril story.

Some reports have made it about me, and it is called Ross Kemp Libyas Migrant Hell, but it should just be called A Migrant Hell, he says.

Its about the suffering of these people who are using the most dangerous migrant route in the world to get to Europe across 1,000 miles of desert in Libya and then the Mediterranean sea.

Sky

Those who have made it to Italy talk about 90 per cent of the people who travel through that desert witnessing some sort of human- rights abuse, whether it be murder, rape or torture.

Its estimated that 5,000 people drowned trying to make that crossing in 2016 and probably more than that died in the desert.

This will be one of the worst humanitarian disasters that will befall Europe and Africa in the coming years if nothing is done to address it, which is why this film is going out now. We want people to be aware of it.

After more than 10 years of investigative documentaries, Ross admits he should be hardened by the horrors hes seen.

But talking to a girl called Favour, in one of the detention centres in Surman, he cant help but console her as she weeps for a little boy whose mother drowned.

Sky

"Another woman who has already lost her baby in childbirth tells him she is dying: Its heartbreaking.

Even more shocking is a visit to a local brothel, which Ross and his crew are ordered to leave at gunpoint when they ask questions.

Between 5,000 and 10,000 Nigerian women are trafficked into Libya every year to work in the sex trade, although they are told that they are going to Italy, reveals Ross.

You see so many pregnant women among the refugees. You dont embark on a journey like that when youre pregnant. Its because youve been raped.

Ross is aware how controversial the subject of migrants and refugees is right now both here and abroad, but calls for understanding.

Sky

This programme is not about whether you agree or disagree with the migration of sub-Saharan Africans into Europe, he says.

No matter what your views are, a situation exists which needs solving. And the way that you solve a problem is by understanding it.

And he sends out a warning in the light of President Trumps recent executive order to restrict movement to the US.

Its going to cause panic, he says. It will cause greater distance and less understanding between one part of the world and another.

If you were sitting there [in Africa] now and you thought the door was closing on you, what would you do? Run. People are going to be more desperate. So theyre going to go there in bigger numbers.

NEW! Ross Kemp Libyas Migrant Hell Tuesday 9pm Sky1

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Ross Kemp survived the threat of kidnap whilst making a show about the migrant crisis in Libya - The Sun