Greece Coast Guards look on as the fishing vessel carrying hundreds of migrants sinks
The disaster involving the migrants in Greece is the worst because it resulted in significant human casualties and the Greek coastal force was just present to observe as it happened 80 km south of the Greek town of Pylos with a boat carrying over 700 illegal immigrants.
The human traffickers have struck again, and this time hundreds, including children and infants, drowned when a boat carrying Pakistanis, Egyptians, and Syrian migrants capsized off the coastline of Greece in the presence of Greece's coast guards, who simply stood by and observed as hundreds perished.
In September last year, more than 70 asylum seekers died when their boat sank off the Syrian shore. The boat was carrying refugees and migrants from Lebanon and the authority confirmed at least 71 deaths while dozens were missing. The incident occurred months after a similar incident killed a score of Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinian migrants who tried to flee crisis-hit Lebanon by sea to Europe.
In early October, as many as 15 bodies were recovered by the Greek coastal force when two separate boats carrying dozens of migrants sank on the island of Lesbos. A few hours earlier, the coastguard received a report of a sailboat in trouble on the island of Kythira, which is south of the Peloponnese peninsula. Near the island village of Diakofti, a sailboat carrying about 95 people became aground and perished.
According to data from the UK government provided on Sunday, more than 10,000 people have entered the country in tiny boats since the year's commencement. According to data provided by the Home Office, there were 10,139 confirmed cases as of Saturday. By June 17 of last year, there had been almost 11,300 crossings.
According to a recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), based on two of the main smuggling routes, South to North America and East, North, and West Africa to Europe, approximately 3.055 million migrants arrive in the US and Europe each year from East, North, and West Africa. Although there have been instances where migrants have crossed the border between South and North America on foot, by rail, or even through specialized tunnels, the majority of them do it in trucks.
Criminals operating in these areas alone make almost $6.9 billion a year from the smuggling of migrants. At least 1,691 people lost their lives trying to cross deserts between 1996 and 2011, while 1,000 more lost their lives trying to cross the sea in just 2008. The costs associated with smuggling migrants range from $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the country of origin.
Greece incident
The disaster involving the migrants in Greece is the worst because it resulted in significant human casualties and the Greek coastal force was just present to observe as it happened 50 miles (80 km) south of the Greek town of Pylos with a boat carrying over 700 illegal immigrants. According to the media, this happened while the coast guards were pulling the boat to shore. The event demonstrates that the Greek coastguard's "massive neglect and cruelty" in dragging the boat to shore caused the boat to capsize. Despite witnessing hundreds of migrants drown, they did nothing to save them.
Although no one helped them, the survivors told the media that the boat went down 45 miles southwest of Greece's southern Peloponnese peninsula. Quoting the Four other survivors, the media claimed that the Greek coastguard did not come to the aid for at least three hours after the boat capsized, from about midnight on Wednesday until sunrise. "They just watched," they said. They could have helped a lot more people.
According to The Guardian, a survivor was heard informing Alexis Tsipras, the former prime minister of Greece, that the coast guard had thrown a rope at those on the boat. The ship began to lean right and left because the crew didn't know how to pull the rope, the translator informed Tsipras. The vessel was already leaning to the left when the coast guard boat approached it too quickly, which is how it sank.
Coastguard’s version contradicted
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has received information that casts doubt on the Greek coastguard's account of Wednesday's migrant shipwreck, in which hundreds are believed to have perished.
The overcrowded fishing boat was not moving for at least seven hours before it capsized, according to an analysis of the movements of other ships in the region. The coastguard continues to maintain that the boat did not need rescue during these hours and was instead headed for Italy. The BBC's findings have not yet received a response from Greek authorities.
The UN estimates that up to 500 individuals are still missing, although at least 78 deaths are known to have occurred. The UN has demanded a probe into how Greece handled the accident amid concerns that more should have been done to launch a large-scale rescue effort at an early stage.
The people on board, according to Greek officials, said they did not seek assistance and were not in danger until moments before their boat capsized. The marine analytics company MarineTraffic provided the BBC with a computer animation of tracking data that contradicts the official narrative that the migrant boat had no navigational problems by showing hours of activity concentrated on a constrained, precise location where the boat later sank. The fishing boat was not visible on the map since it lacked a tracker. Neither are military or coast guard vessels, which are exempt from sharing their locations.
According to the navigation specialists, given the trawler's state, the Greek government was required to initiate rescue efforts. According to the law and process, a captain's denial of help might be overturned if it was shown to be irrational, which it certainly seemed to be.
Pakistan declared a day of mourning
Even though 78 deaths have been confirmed and 104 survivors, mostly from Pakistan, Egypt, and Syria, have been brought ashore, Islamabad fears that over 300 Pakistani youth, along with a sizable number from Syria and Egypt, have perished in the horrific incident. Police estimate that up to 500 people are still missing.
According to the initial data provided by survivors of the shipwreck, at least 400 Pakistanis, 200 Egyptians, and 150 Syrians, including about two dozen Syrian women and young children, were traveling on the trawler. The precise number of Pakistanis on board the ship, nevertheless, has not yet been confirmed by the authorities.
The victims of the Greece boat disaster were remembered in Pakistan on Monday, and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been entrusted with assembling teams in the nation's key cities to track out traffickers.
Numerous agents have been detained by the FIA across the nation. The primary brains behind the world's human traffickers, according to the investigating agency, are based in Libya, Egypt, and Italy, and they have red warrants out for them. According to the agency, well-connected human traffickers have tremendous influence and authority to utterly destroy the lives of young migrants from undeveloped nations.