The recent implosion of the Titan made headlines everywhere. However, a lesser-known sinking of a smuggler ship with higher death tolls did not.
So, what happened?
A ship carrying over 750 migrants heading for Italy had just left the Libyan port city of Tobruk on June 8. The ship’s existence was notified to the UN on June 13, with multiple accounts asking if they needed help with materials. However, they were turned down.
Soon, the boat capsized off the coast of Pylos, Greece, in the early hours of June 14th.
A total of 82 bodies have been discovered thus far, with more that have not yet been located. However, over 100 people were rescued and placed in a shelter, which provided them with food and a place to sleep. Of the survivors, 47 are Syrian, 43 Egyptian, 12 Pakistani, and two Palestinian.
Among the passengers, over 350 were from Pakistan. As a sibling of one of the passengers stated, “Europe doesn’t understand; we don’t leave because we want to. There is simply nothing for us in Pakistan.”
Many who boarded were either looking for a better life or a better job to support their families. Around 50–100 of the people on board were children, hoping to help their parents by earning a higher income, and even more were middle-aged men aiming to do the same.
As stated previously, the ship did not want any help from outside. Apparently, the passengers were perfectly happy about boarding. However, Alarm Phone, a hotline run by activists that helps ships in distress, says the opposite: that the passengers were desperate for help.
Along with that, international maritime law states that authorities are obliged to report and immediately rescue sinking ships without explicit pleas for help and without delay.
The coast guard on duty just watched as the ship sank in minutes.
Greece also faced international backlash for its migrant laws. The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also called for a fence to be built around the border with Turkey to keep migrants out and for citizenship to be harder to apply for and renew following these strict anti-immigrant laws.
So, what happened?
A ship carrying over 750 migrants heading for Italy had just left the Libyan port city of Tobruk on June 8. The ship’s existence was notified to the UN on June 13, with multiple accounts asking if they needed help with materials. However, they were turned down.
Soon, the boat capsized off the coast of Pylos, Greece, in the early hours of June 14th.
A total of 82 bodies have been discovered thus far, with more that have not yet been located. However, over 100 people were rescued and placed in a shelter, which provided them with food and a place to sleep. Of the survivors, 47 are Syrian, 43 Egyptian, 12 Pakistani, and two Palestinian.
Among the passengers, over 350 were from Pakistan. As a sibling of one of the passengers stated, “Europe doesn’t understand; we don’t leave because we want to. There is simply nothing for us in Pakistan.”
Many who boarded were either looking for a better life or a better job to support their families. Around 50–100 of the people on board were children, hoping to help their parents by earning a higher income, and even more were middle-aged men aiming to do the same.
As stated previously, the ship did not want any help from outside. Apparently, the passengers were perfectly happy about boarding. However, Alarm Phone, a hotline run by activists that helps ships in distress, says the opposite: that the passengers were desperate for help.
Along with that, international maritime law states that authorities are obliged to report and immediately rescue sinking ships without explicit pleas for help and without delay.
The coast guard on duty just watched as the ship sank in minutes.
Greece also faced international backlash for its migrant laws. The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also called for a fence to be built around the border with Turkey to keep migrants out and for citizenship to be harder to apply for and renew following these strict anti-immigrant laws.
