Greece, it is increasingly urgent to prevent new massacres: “The current approach to what is happening in the Mediterranean is no longer practicable”

ROME – While it is still known precisely how many people were on board the boat that capsized on June 14 off the coast of south-western Greece, off Pylos, one of the nine men arrested yesterday as part of the sinking investigation confessed to his involvement in migrant smuggling. This was reported by Kathimerini, according to whom the man admitted to having received money to carry out work on board the ship ‘Adriana’ during the trip, but denied being a “key member” of the smuggling of migrants. The other eight Egyptians detained, on the other hand, denied the accusations of having formed a criminal organization, having caused a shipwreck and having endangered the lives of the people on board. The people arrested, all between the ages of 20 and 40, would have made up the ship’s crew, playing distinct roles in the smuggling of migrants. “It was an organized trafficking that had been in the making for 40, maybe 50 days,” said a Greek Coast Guard official.

A death toll is currently impossible. At the moment, it is only known that 400 to 750 people may have been on board the fishing boat that sailed from the Egyptian coast. This according to various testimonies. So far 104 have been rescued and 78 bodies have been recovered, all the others are missing and, hour after hour, the odds increase that they are all dead too. The boat had already been in danger since the morning of 13 June and following the capsizing the Hellenic Coast Guard launched a large-scale search operation.

The duty to help. Rescue at sea is a fundamental rule of international maritime law, they stress International Organization for Migration (L’OIM extension) and theUNHCR, L’UN refugee agency. Both shipmasters and states have an obligation to render assistance to those in distress when at sea, irrespective of their nationality, economic and social status or the circumstances in which they find themselves. even for those on unseaworthy vessels and regardless of the intentions of those on board. be theOIM extension that the UN High Commissioner for the Rights of Refugees have reiterated several times in recent years that sea rescue is a categorical legal imperative.

Assistance to survivors. The two important international bodies are currently on the ground in Kalamata, in southwestern Greece and are working in close coordination with the local authorities. The goal is to provide psychological support and assistance to survivors, through the distribution of basic necessities: hygiene kits, interpretation and counseling services for survivors, many of whom are traumatized by the ordeal they suffered. “It is clear that the current approach to what is happening in the Mediterranean is no longer feasible. Year after year, the Mediterranean continues to be the most dangerous migratory route in the world, the one with the highest mortality rate. States must come together and fill gaps in proactive search and rescue, rapid disembarkation and establishing smooth and safe pathways for migrants. These collective efforts should have people’s rights and human life at the heart of any response,” said Federico Soda, director of the emergency department of theInternational Organization for Migration.

Security and solidarity. “The European Union must put security and solidarity at the heart of its action in the Mediterranean. In view of the increase in movements of refugees and migrants on this route, collective efforts, including greater coordination between all coastal states, l “Mutual aid and sharing of responsibilities are essential to saving lives. This includes setting up an agreed regional disembarkation and redeployment mechanism for people arriving by sea,” said Gillian Triggs, Assistant for the Protection Sector of the ‘UNHCR.