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Off Lampedusa, on October 11, did Europe let 268 Syrians die?

Syrian Espresso
Portraits of families of the Syrians who were on the boat. Rip (copyright: L'Espresso)

(BRUSSELS2) The death of 268 Syrian migrants (refugees) (*), drowned in the sinking of their boat, on October 11 between Lampedusa and Malta (see A new ship sinks off Lampedusa. Italian and Maltese navies in action), could have been avoided, written Fabrizio Gatti in "L'Espresso". His investigation reconstructs the " incredible behavior of the Italian authorities and the effect of European regulations ».

There have been " three emergency calls via satellite phone that were ignored. “Several hours wasted at sea waiting for help then” that Italy has not mobilized any aircraft, Navy or Coast Guard ships to end up sending the ball back to Malta! The one who made the call was found by our Italian colleague, he is a doctor, Dr. Jammo, aged 40, responsible in Aleppo, who worked in the main intensive care and anesthesia unit of the Ibn Hospital Roshd, a public hospital, and was the director of the Franco-Syrian clinic "Claude Bernard". He survived along with his wife (university professor of mechanical engineering), and their 5-year-old daughter. But he lost his sons Mohamad (6 years old) and Nahel (9 months), whose bodies have not been found.

Several hours wasted

Dr. Jammo details the long line of calls.

11 h “I called the Italian number before 11 am. A woman answered me. She asked me to give the exact location. I gave the geographical coordinates. And I added: “Please, we are on a boat in the middle of the sea, we are all Syrians, many of us are doctors, we are in danger of life, the boat is sinking . (...) “We are going to die, we have more than a hundred children with us. Please, please help us, please. ""

12h30 "I called back around 12:30 p.m. I repeat who I am. It's the same person. She responds, "ok, ok, ok" and the conversation cuts off. But nothing happens. Nobody calls us. »

13 h « I call back after half an hour. It is now about one o'clock in the afternoon. She puts me on hold and after a while a man answers. He says: “Listen, you are in an area under the responsibility of Malta. You have to call the Maltese Navy". I prayed, "Please, we are going to die." He repeated to me, "Please call the Maltese police...". On the map we saw that Lampedusa was only 100-110 kilometers away. While Malta was at least 230 km away. That's why we called the Italians "...

15 h « We then called the Maltese. At three o'clock in the afternoon, I was assured that they would arrive in 45 minutes. »

16 h "At four o'clock they said to me: 'Okay, we are sure of your position, but we still need an hour and ten minutes to reach you.

17h10 “At ten past five, all our children drowned and no one came. »

Comments : a complaint has been filed. If all this information is confirmed, the facts should be qualified as non-assistance to person in danger. Beyond that, it is a real dysfunction of the Italian and Maltese rescue chain that is in question, in particular the lack of rapid liaison and coordination between the two countries. It is the quality of the rescue system at sea in the Mediterranean that is in question and its European organization. Incriminating a person, the one who was on "guard" that day at the emergency service, or even a single country, would be too easy. Given the importance of the phenomenon, the function of rescuing migrants at sea cannot be placed under the sole responsibility (and at the cost of) of a single country. It is a general responsibility. Europe can no longer turn a blind eye...

Especially since the people who cross the Mediterranean do not do so to take a trip to the sea or find a better job. It is not only desperate "economic" migrants but also potential asylum seekers fleeing their country who are left with no other choice. Those who point out otherwise are not fit to hold public office. It is therefore a question today of acting quickly, not in a month or in a few years, but in the following hours and days.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense who meet on 18 and 19 November next will not have to start a process but take a firm, energetic decision that can be applied immediately. The time for dithering is over! Certainly there are many legal, operational or political questions to be resolved. B2 echoed this. And it's not obvious (The CSDP to fight against immigration? Some questions). But today it is no longer a question of locking oneself into a regulatory or procedural framework to refuse assistance. We must consider the objective of the European Union and the CSDP: what is it for, what are they for? And, then, roll out the instruments and procedures. And not the opposite.

It is a question of values. And these must be placed above all. If Europe today is no longer capable of putting above all its values ​​of justice and humanity, of safeguarding human life and of solidarity, for which it was created, then, yes, those who campaign for its erasure and suppression will have won!

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

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Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

One thought on “Off Lampedusa, on October 11, did Europe let 268 Syrians die?"

  • The EU, its words, its values, and its deeds…..

    When a member country does not respect its obligations under the treaty or secondary law, there are sanctions (article TEU)!

    Who will have the courage to apply them in such a situation? A situation that begins to repeat itself too often for us to let the situation rot!

    As for Frontex, let's stop hiding behind this agency whose missions are totally taken hostage by the Member States to deny our national and collective responsibilities in the face of these repeated tragedies!

    The low spectrum of the Petersberg missions, the solidarity clause and the provisions of the treaty relating to civil protection would suffice to justify permanent collective action like what the Union is doing with Atalanta to fight against international piracy!

    When will we move from groans and other hollow declarations to decisions and actions commensurate with what the EU claims to want to represent and promote?

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