New boat people horror – one survivor out of 55
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London’s Sunday Independent reports:
Abbas Settou is alive “by the grace of God”, he says. Recovering in a Tunisian hospital this weekend, it is feared he is the sole survivor of 55 men and women who set off in an inflatable boat from Libya last month hoping to reach Italy.
His fellow passengers drowned or died slowly and painfully from hunger, thirst, and exhaustion after their boat ruptured, capsized, and drifted for 15 days unseen through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. “We threw their bodies overboard,” he said. They included three members of his family.
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Yes, and it is always the authorities like ours who refuse to rescue them.
BUT, while this is awful, it is just as awful that another Afghan wedding was blown to bits, that 30,000 kids a day die of starvation, war and preventable diseases and that all over the world every day of the year hundreds of thousands die from all causes.
This focus on refugees dying at sea is deranged, thousands times more die if they are forced to stay home.
What is telling about this one is that the vessel was quite safe and reached land in one piece, but was thrown back to sea by a storm.
And not a mention of evil people smugglers.
According to the Eritrean’s account, 55 people boarded the boat in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and reached the Italian coast approximately 24 hours later. High winds prevented them landing and claiming asylum. The boat was forced back out to sea where the hull ruptured and the engine failed.”
So it is not that the boat was unsafe, it was caught in an accident.
The true horror as with the Australian’s and NATO leaving people to die is that in this case there are literally thousands of ships in that area.
“The tragedy has also highlighted concerns that – contrary to international law – maritime authorities and commercial shipping are turning a blind eye to migrants in distress in the Mediterranean. Critics claim migrants in distress are being left to drift or are intercepted and “pushed back” to countries in the southern Med. Scores of ships, including a number of British flagged vessels and highly equipped naval vessels are known to have sailed through the area but none saw or came to the stricken vessels aid.”
And of course the wars are kinda against international law as well.
The SIEVX website here has ample evidence now that every refugee our pollies pretending to care about drowning were literally drowned by us.
Marilyn. stop drowning yourself. and I know you will answer this, too, but…… stop drowning yourself. please
Stop drowning myself, what are you on about.
Richard unfairly highlighted the wrong part of the story, why shouldn’t I say so?
Marilyn
“Unfairly” is a bit tough on me. I just quoted the first two pars of the story.
I really had nothing more in mind than reminding Australians that there is nothing unique about what is happening in our part of the world.
Perhaps one lesson I would learn from this Mediterrranean experience is that organisers of migration by boat should follow the Indonesian example and equip their craft with mobile phones and the numbers of the relevant sea rescue services.
They had a sat phone that broke. and they arrived safely Richard.
Unlike the Costa Concordia with it’s massive amounts of electronics.
The problem is you only read a bit of the story.
As for the Indonesian experience, we still let them drown after they call and don’t forget the story is that the evil smugglers make them give up their phones.
Marilyn, as for letting them drown on the way to Australia, with in a month or so the Australian Navy will probably not have any ships able to act as taxis as they are quoted as falling apart due to work loads. Already they are banned from traveling in seas of 2.5 m or more, and that is when any drama that is going to happen, will.
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