<nettime> stories of boats4 people

[Geert Lovink <geert@xs4all.nl>]

Boats 4 People. Press release n°5
Link to full video: http://vimeo.com/45617472

Abbas, an Eritrean national is the only survivor of this incident, was
found on Tuesday at 14:30 by a Tunisian fisherman 35 miles off the  
coasts
of Zarzis. He was hanging onto the remains of the rubber dinghy with  
which
he had left Tripoli around 14 days earlier with 56 people on board (20
Somalians, 2 Sudanese and 34 Eritreans), among which his older brother  
and
two sisters. After approximately 26 hours of navigation, the boat, which
was in very bad conditions, capsized and only Abbas managed to hold onto
the boat, whose engine was nevertheless damaged after falling into the
water. He drifted alone for fourteen days in the open sea, occasionally
sighting in the distance other vessels. After finally being rescued by a
Tunisian fisherman yesterday, a patrol boat of the Tunisian "Garde
National Maritime" was sent out and took him on board at 15:30 at the
following coordinates: 33 50.577 N, 11 32.442 E (see map). Nevertheless,
this location refers only to the point were the rescue operation took
place, and does not indicate the furthermost point reached by the boat,
which might have been several tens of miles North of this point. Abbas  
was
later brought to the hospital in Zarzis, where he received treatment for
dehydration and extreme exhaustion.
WatchTheMed: https://watchthemed.crowdmap.com/reports/view/23

Boats 4 People. Press release n°5
Zarzis, 11th July 2012:

Boats 4 People: A delegation meets sole survivor of tragic incident that
cost the lives of 55

A year and a few months after the "left-to-die boat" case lead to
international indignation, another dramatically similar incident reveals
how, despite the changed geopolitical situation, migrants keep dying in
the Mediterranean sea in appalling conditions.

Last year, in March 2011, 63 people who had left Tripoli in the  
attempt to
reach the Southern shores of Italy, died after drifting for 14 days at
sea. This incident occurred during the international military  
intervention
in Libya and as such in meticulously surveilled waters. Several damning
reports were released on the failures of a series of actors and a legal
case was filed in France for non-assistance. Now, despite the fall of  
the
Qaddafi regime and the end of the international intervention in Libya,
Boats4People has learned during an interview conducted this morning in
Zarzis, Southern Tunisia, about another tragic case that shows once  
again
the dramatic effects of the European migration regime.

Abbas, an Eritrean national who is the only survivor of this incident,  
was
found on Tuesday at 14:30 by a Tunisian fisherman 35 miles off the  
coasts
of Zarzis. He was hanging onto the remains of the rubber dinghy with  
which
he had left Tripoli around 14 days earlier with 56 people on board (20
Somalians, 2 Sudanese and 34 Eritreans), among which his older brother  
and
two sisters. After approximately 26 hours of navigation, the boat, which
was in very bad conditions, capsized and only Abbas managed to hold onto
the boat, whose engine was nevertheless damaged after falling into the
water. He drifted alone for fourteen days in the open sea, occasionally
sighting in the distance other vessels. After finally rescued by a
Tunisian fisherman yesterday, a patrol boat of the Tunisian "Garde
National Maritime" was sent out and took him onboard at 15:30. He was
brought to the hospital in Zarzis, where he received treatment for
dehydration and extreme exhaustion.

Boats4People denounces once again the policy of border closure that  
oblige
migrants to resort to dangerous means to cross the Mediterranean as well
as the criminalization of assistance to migrants in distress at sea,  
which
have de facto transformed the Mediterranean in a cemetery.

In collaboration with researchers of the Forensic Oceanography project  
at
Goldsmiths College, Boats4People will keep inquiring to determine if any
measure could have been taken to avert the tragic fate of the passengers
of this boat.

http://www.boats4people.org/index.php/en/


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