For the relatives of the hundreds of migrants who drowned in June when a fishing trawler packed with human cargo capsized off the coast of Greece, there has been no body to mourn and no prospect of closure. Eighty-two bodies were recovered after the sinking, and 104 people managed to survive. But as many as 750 migrants were on board the Adriana, which never got close to Italy – its theoretical destination.
The news agenda has moved on. But those lost to the sea must not be forgotten. The Council of Europe was therefore right last week to urge the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to step up efforts to locate the missing, presumed drowned, and to identify the dead. Just as important was its demand for a transparent, thorough and independent investigation into the events of 13-14 June – the worst migrant shipwreck for many years. Why was this appalling disaster not averted despite the Adriana being under observation for about 15 hours before it sank?
At a time when European policymaking on irregular migration appears to be focused exclusively on deterrence and prevention, it is vital that such an investigation takes place. The need to do everything possible to safeguard the lives of migrants imperilled at sea is, or should be, a non-negotiable obligation for all civilised states. But in recent years, harassment of NGOs dedicated to that goal has been accompanied by a rise in illegal pushbacks in Greece and elsewhere.
The circumstances surrounding the shipwreck of the Adriana are extremely murky. In interviews conducted by the Guardian and other media outlets, multiple survivors have testified that the Greek coastguard attempted to tow the overcrowded trawler towards Italian waters, causing it to topple over. Coastguard officials have denied this.
Separately, it has emerged that, on three occasions, the Greek authorities turned down offers of assistance by Frontex, the EU border and coastguard agency. The coastguard vessel eventually dispatched from Crete to assist the migrants failed to film its operation, meaning no footage of the catastrophe is available. Other vessels, much closer by, were not sent to lend capacity to a potential rescue operation, although distress calls were being made by some migrants to activist groups. According to the coastguard, those on board the boat resisted offers of help and were determined to head to Italy.
Responding to the Council of Europe, the Greek minister for migration and asylum, Dimitris Kairidis, cited a judicial investigation into the disaster that is currently under way. But he also deplored a “frenzy” of politically motivated criticism of Greece, allegedly orchestrated by advocates of “open border” policies. Given a damning judgment by the European court of human rights last summer, in which Greece was condemned for failing properly to investigate a previous fatal sinking of a migrant boat, those comments were ill-advised. In that case, too, survivors had alleged that their vessel sank after being towed, on that occasion towards Turkish waters.
Rightly, the European ombudsman last week announced a Brussels investigation into the part played by Frontex in the tragedy in June. One coastguard source told the Guardian: “It should have been a send everything you’ve got situation.” The families of those lost deserve to know why that didn’t happen.
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