Exclusive: Boat trying to reach Lampedusa was left to drift in Mediterranean for 16 days, despite alarm being raised

May 8, 2011

Dozens of African migrants were left to die in the Mediterranean after a number of European and Nato military units apparently ignored their cries for help, the Guardian has learned.

A boat carrying 72 passengers, including several women, young children and political refugees, ran into trouble in late March after leaving Tripoli for the Italian island of Lampedusa. Despite alarms being raised with the Italian coastguard and the boat making contact with a military helicopter and a Nato warship, no rescue effort was attempted.

All but 11 of those on board died from thirst and hunger after their vessel was left to drift in open waters for 16 days. "Every morning we would wake up and find more bodies, which we would leave for 24 hours and then throw overboard," said Abu Kurke, one of only nine survivors. "By the final days, we didn't know ourselves … everyone was either praying, or dying."

International maritime law compels all vessels, including military units, to answer distress calls from nearby boats and to offer help where possible. Refugee rights campaigners have demanded an investigation into the deaths, while the UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, has called for stricter co-operation among commercial and military vessels in the Mediterranean in an effort to save human lives.

"The Mediterranean cannot become the wild west," said spokeswoman Laura Boldrini. "Those who do not rescue people at sea cannot remain unpunished."

Her words were echoed by Father Moses Zerai, an Eritrean priest in Rome who runs the refugee rights organisation Habeshia, and who was one of the last people to be in communication with the migrant boat before its satellite phone ran out of battery.

"There was an abdication of responsibility which led to the deaths of over 60 people, including children," he claimed. "That constitutes a crime, and that crime cannot go unpunished just because the victims were African migrants and not tourists on a cruise liner."

This year's political turmoil and military conflict in north Africa have fuelled a sharp rise in the number of people attempting to reach Europe by sea, with up to 30,000 migrants believed to have made the journey across the Mediterranean over the past four months. Large numbers have died en route; last month more than 800 migrants of different nationalities who left on boats from Libya never made it to European shores and are presumed dead.

Underlining the dangers, on Sunday more than 400 migrants were involved in a dramatic rescue when their boat hit rocks on Lampedusa.

The pope, meanwhile, in an address to more than 300,000 worshippers, called on Italians to welcome immigrants fleeing to their shores.

The Guardian's investigation into the case of the boat of 72 migrants which set sail from Tripoli on 25 March established that it carried 47 Ethiopians, seven Nigerians, seven Eritreans, six Ghanaians and five Sudanese migrants. Twenty were women and two were small children, one of whom was just one year old. The boat's Ghanaian captain was aiming for the Italian island of Lampedusa, 180 miles north-west of the Libyan capital, but after 18 hours at sea the small vessel began running into trouble and losing fuel.

Using witness testimony from survivors and other individuals who were in contact with the passengers during its doomed voyage, the Guardian has pieced together what happened next. The account paints a harrowing picture of a group of desperate migrants condemned to death by a combination of bad luck, bureaucracy and the apparent indifference of European military forces who had the opportunity to attempt a rescue.

The migrants used the boat's satellite phone to call Zerai in Rome, who in turn contacted the Italian coastguard. The boat's location was narrowed down to about 60 miles off Tripoli, and coastguard officials assured Zerai that the alarm had been raised and all relevant authorities had been alerted to the situation.

Soon a military helicopter marked with the word "army" appeared above the boat. The pilots, who were wearing military uniforms, lowered bottles of water and packets of biscuits and gestured to passengers that they should hold their position until a rescue boat came to help. The helicopter flew off, but no rescue boat arrived.

No country has yet admitted sending the helicopter that made contact with the migrants. A spokesman for the Italian coastguard said: "We advised Malta that the vessel was heading towards their search and rescue zone, and we issued an alert telling vessels to look out for the boat, obliging them to attempt a rescue." The Maltese authorities denied they had had any involvement with the boat.

After several hours of waiting, it became apparent to those on board that help was not on the way. The vessel had only 20 litres of fuel left, but the captain told passengers that Lampedusa was close enough for him to make it there unaided. It was a fatal mistake. By 27 March, the boat had lost its way, run out of fuel and was drifting with the currents.

"We'd finished the oil, we'd finished the food and water, we'd finished everything," said Kurke, a 24-year-old migrant who was fleeing ethnic conflict in his homeland, the Oromia region of Ethiopia. "We were drifting in the sea, and the weather was very dangerous." At some point on 29 or 30 March the boat was carried near to a Nato aircraft carrier – so close that it would have been impossible to be missed. According to survivors, two jets took off from the ship and flew low over the boat while the migrants stood on deck holding the two starving babies aloft. But from that point on, no help was forthcoming. Unable to manoeuvre any closer to the aircraft carrier, the migrants' boat drifted away. Shorn of supplies, fuel or means of contacting the outside world, they began succumbing one by one to thirst and starvation.

The Guardian has made extensive inquiries to ascertain the identity of the Nato aircraft carrier, and has concluded that it is likely to have been the French ship Charles de Gaulle, which was operating in the Mediterranean on those dates.

French naval authorities initially denied the carrier was in the region at that time. After being shown news reports which indicated this was untrue, a spokesperson declined to comment.

A spokesman for Nato, which is co-ordinating military action in Libya, said it had not logged any distress signals from the boat and had no records of the incident. "Nato units are fully aware of their responsibilities with regard to the international maritime law regarding safety of life at sea," said an official. "Nato ships will answer all distress calls at sea and always provide help when necessary. Saving lives is a priority for any Nato ships."

For most of the migrants, the failure of the Nato ship to mount any rescue attempt proved fatal. Over the next 10 days, almost everyone on board died. "We saved one bottle of water from the helicopter for the two babies, and kept feeding them even after their parents had passed," said Kurke, who survived by drinking his own urine and eating two tubes of toothpaste. "But after two days, the babies passed too, because they were so small."

On 10 April, the boat washed up on a beach near the Libyan town of Zlitan near Misrata. Of the 72 migrants who had embarked at Tripoli, only 11 were still alive, and one of those died almost immediately on reaching land. Another survivor died shortly afterwards in prison, after Gaddafi's forces arrested the migrants and detained them for four days.

Despite the trauma of their last attempt, the migrants – who are hiding out in the house of an Ethiopian in the Libyan capital – are willing to tackle the Mediterranean again if it means reaching Europe and gaining asylum.

"These are people living an unimaginable existence, fleeing political, religious and ethnic persecution," said Zerai. "We must have justice for them, for those that died alongside them, and for the families who have lost their loved ones."

Additional reporting by John Hooper and Tom Kington in Rome, and Kim Willsher in Paris



http://uruknet.info/?p=m77528&hd=&size=1&l=e[url][/url]

NATO? NONSENSE, Se no be to invade dem sabi ni? RIP TO PPL WEY DIE O.

sigh!

So people are still not aware of the depopulation agenda being embarked upon by the World's elite? Soon, very soon, humans are going to be needing visas to come to earth from wherever they come from in their mother's womb, seriously, enjoy your life everyone and do not count on reincarnation because you may never be able to come back to earth again, google depopulation agenda sponsored by the likes of Bill Gate and his good friend, Warren Buffet,

Horrible story, not stereotyping or anything but if this was alleged to be a UK carrier, a full scale enquiry would be carried out but I don't trust the french.

in the first place

why would african take this risk to go to europe on crap boats?

am not supporting this but put urselfves in the boots of a NATO soldier, seeing this africans crossing every damn time only to be sent back

its fucking annoying

R
I
P

The same way George Bush caused a lot of death when hurricane katrina hit louisiana.Black man don suffer.

the same civilians they are trying to protect in libya ?

NATO,FRENCH,MALTA,ITALIAN COAST GUARDS,All DENYING Recieving Any Distress Call.                                YES Na Me Recieve d Distress Call. Imagine Out Of 72 Immigrants Only 9 Survived. Na Only God Go Pay Una Back.

Breathless,

k10:

the same civilians they are trying to protect in libya ?

They are not in Libya to protect any civilian, just like in Cote'divore where thousands were massacred in Duekoue and the UN did not receive any distress call while destroying the country with heavy bombardment and telling the world they are doing it to protect African civilians from Gbagbo when actually it was Ouattara forces who were commiting genocide.

NATO started a war in Libya leading to thousands migrating. Italy has being threatening to send the migrants who have landed in Lampedussa and dump them in other EU countries who are skeptical about the plan.
So what they now do is to rock migrant boats and let the people die to discourage more Africans attempting to cross into Europe.
Yesterday a boat carrying 600 Libyan and Somali migrants hit a 'ROCK' according to CNN and hundreds are reported missing and drowned.
The problem is that the war in Libya has hit a stalemate and Russia is making it more difficult by stating that it would not allow any foreign boots on ground in Libya which is against UN resolution and the war is getting costlier by the day with rich EU nations like Germany not contributing to it.
So the perceived way out is for NATO to steal Libyan Government frozen funds (which runs contrary to UN mandate) and proclaim to use same for humanitarian aid to the poorly motivated ragtag rebels made up mostly of Alqueda fighters (same group that US and NATO) has spent huge fortunes fighting for several years in the name of international anti-terrorism war.
The US foresaw this situation and quickly pulled out after throwing some tomahawk missiles on Tripoli.
French desperation is getting NATO into a very dangerous situation where they have lost a lot of trust after their incursion in Libya.
Ghadafi was playing a big role by preventing migrants reaching Europe over the years by offering jobs to African migrants and sometimes detaining and deporting them to their countries of origin; but now that he is no longer doing that, the flood gates has opened and Africans are being left to die in open seas.

The conflict in Libya is all about the oil, just like the massacre in Ivory Coast is about Cocoa.
Just like Bob Marley once said, many will have to suffer, many more will have to die, dont ask me why!!! Except the oil dries up.
Africans must start rejecting the kind of 'dirty democracy' being proposed by the former colonialists just like no country has become rich through IMF or World Bank loans.

why start a war you cant finish? damn, nato is useless, why invade libya, when you cant save the people still from dying? this ppl want this africans to die so they can make use of their war, i guess ghadaffi is laughing now

@Topic.

Those ragtags called NATO only work with/where they get their interest back instantly . . . I'm not surprised!!

They were too busy trying to murder Ghadafii

kmt, then you will hear dave cameron and nicholas sarkozy lament about humanitarian efforts! kmt bunch of hypocritical fools!

vladimiros:

in the first place
why would african take this risk to go to europe on crap boats?
am not supporting this but put urselfves in the boots of a NATO soldier, seeing this africans crossing every damn time only to be sent back
its bleeping annoying

So the alternative is to let them die so that they wun't go and come back. You call yourself a human being.

Dats too inhumane.may the dead souls rip,

and so? aint they always hungry?

after all the insult ,Nairalanders, una eye don finally open

aguiyi:

after all the insult ,Nairalanders, una eye don finally open

Some of us thought that they oyimbos were on a rescue mission to Libya and Ivory Coast but now we know better. Thanks! At least you saw ahead!!

This is evil and wicked! NATO and indeed French forces cannot exonerate themselves. i bet this wouldn't have happened if they had at least 3 French nationals on board. I guess they were all scared of accepting the responsibility of offering asylum to the refugees. There's no way they would have sent them back to Libya if they were rescued. so I believe the chose the option of turning a blind eye. so sad!

Guyman02:


The problem is that the war in Libya has hit a stalemate and Russia is making it more difficult by stating that it would not allow any foreign boots on ground in Libya which is against UN resolution and the war is getting costlier by the day with rich EU nations like Germany not contributing to it.

Guyman, you made sense in your enlightenement, however, what exactly do you mean by saying Russia is making it more difficult?
So you dont know that Russia is the only sane country left to fight for the poor countries? How can you make a statement by saying Russia is making it more difficult, Russia is trying to prevent mass killing by the United Nations, please go through your analysis properly,

konami001:

Guyman, you made sense in your enlightenement, however, what exactly do you mean by saying Russia is making it more difficult?
So you dont know that Russia is the only sane country left to fight for the poor countries? How can you make a statement by saying Russia is making it more difficult, Russia is trying to prevent mass killing by the United Nations, please go through your analysis properly,

Konami, the Russians are even worse racist than Western Europeans. If you live in Russia you will understand better. Europeans are racist right, but there are different levels of racial madness in Europe. Russia is one of the "beast" of racism. Their human feeling index is one of the lowest in Europe if not the lowest.

NATO = North Atlantic TERROR Organization

Until we africa decides to take matter into our hands and stop all this greed, tribalism and religious bullshit that has been pass to us from all corner of the earth, we will remain a object of play to the rest of the world. And also, are there no other country in africa were they could escape to? Or is it a must for everyone to travel to europe?

okooyinbo:

Konami, the Russians are even worse racist than Western Europeans. If you live in Russia you will understand better. Europeans are racist right, but there are different levels of racial madness in Europe. Russia is one of the "beast" of racism. Their human feeling index is one of the lowest in Europe if not the lowest.

Yes, i quite agree with you on that, infact, is there really anywhere there is no rascism? I doubt there is! However, my particular concern here is with regards to the invasion by NATO under the auspices of the UN into other Countries, which Russia has been quite outspoken against calling it barbarism of the highest order,

na true dat blakjewelry guy talk wetin do other african countries around why b say na italy una wan go abi na all country 4 africa dey fight war

konami001:

Yes, i quite agree with you on that, infact, is there really anywhere there is no rascism? I doubt there is! However, my particular concern here is with regards to the invasion by NATO under the auspices of the UN into other Countries, which Russia has been quite outspoken against calling it barbarism of the highest order,

Ofcourse, it is very true that a lot of Europeans would be glad to get rid of Gaddafi, what sane government wouldnt? Even Nigeria govt is happy that momo alu Gaddafi is getting pounded. That guy has been on our flesh since Shagari. He never missed the opportunity.

However, was it not this same Russia that "übermässigerweise" - pardon me, forgot the english expression for that word - invaded Georgia? Is it not Russia that is helping the Armenians to take away the land of the Azeris? Is it not the same Russia that wont let go of Chenchya? The state terror of Russia against desenting voices of its own people is even more than barbaric. Have you tried to watch RT, the Russian world TV? They are as bad as their govt.

Anyway, if Africans resolve to solving their problem, and begin to take their destiny into their own hands, we wont have course to blame NATO. If we build our countries and we become formidable, they wont try the shit with us any more. If they do, we do them too. Alas, we are currently very weak, and it does not look like we are moving towards that glorious part.

What I intend to say in essence is: dont buy all the bullshit the Russians are oozing. They are even more terrible when it is to protect their interest. Have a nice evening!

Im not at all surprised, the white men at their very best, all they care about is expoiltation in the name of humanity using NATO and UN as an excuse, just to rescue poor immigrants they are giving us cock n bull story

Another 61 deaths we can safely attribute to Obama.