Greece Migrant Disaster: Capsized Boat Had 100 Children in Hold

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Facts

  • Dozens of migrants, mostly Middle Eastern men, have died after a boat traveling from eastern Libya to Italy capsized off of southern Peloponnese, Greece, on Tuesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, 104 had reportedly been rescued. Unconfirmed claims suggested upwards of 600 were onboard.1
  • The Italian coastguard alerted Greece and the EU border agency Frontex on Tuesday; six coastguard vessels, a navy frigate, a military transport, an air force helicopter, and several private vessels all took part in rescue efforts. Greek authorities said most on board were from Egypt, Syria, and Pakistan.2
  • The coastguard said a "merchant vessel approached the ship and provided it with food and supplies" but "refused any further assistance." It also refused aid from a second merchant ship, instead expressing a desire "to continue to Italy."3
  • With the death toll currently at least 78, one survivor told Kalamata General Hospital cardiologist Dr. Manolis Makaris that there were up to 100 children who may have been on board, and another told him there were 50. Makaris said he believed as many as 600 could have died.4
  • The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 441 migrants died in the Central Mediterranean in the first quarter of 2023 — the deadliest quarter since 2017 — and some 20K have died since 2014.5
  • Former Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis' government imposed a crackdown on migration that has prompted a 90% drop in arrivals since 2015. While he said the policy was designed to deter people smuggling, rights groups have opposed what they consider the legislation's punitive measures on migrants.6

Sources: 1Guardian, 2Al Jazeera, 3NBC, 4BBC News, 5Washington Post, and 6New York Times.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by Human Rights Watch. Not only has Greece abandoned asylum-seekers fleeing from impoverished, war-stricken homelands, it has prosecuted activists attempting to alert authorities to the whereabouts of those headed toward its borders. The government is violating international law, and it should allocate its resources toward defending the vulnerable instead of imprisoning them and those trying to help them.
  • Right narrative, as provided by Breitbart. While politically liberal European countries are the loudest proponents of open borders, under the current system of first-to-receive-first-to-deal-with, they don't bear nearly the same responsibility dealing with migration as Greece, Italy, and Malta. Hopefully, a new system of offering money per migrant rather than settling them will be passed — if not, the entire continent will soon be overwhelmed by migration on a scale it cannot cope with.