We are pleased to publish a statement from Alarm Phone one year after the massacre at sea on 21st April 2021:
One year ago, on 21 April 2021, around 130 people aboard a boat in the central Mediterranean were stranded (link to report) as weather conditions worsened. This happened despite their repeated pleas for help. The following day, the NGO vessel Ocean Viking was only able to locate the wreckage of the boat and some floating bodies after sailing through the night at full speed to their last known position.
Having been in contact with the 130 people in distress throughout the day on 21 April, and having tried to mobilise all those who might have been able to help, Alarm Phone witnessed the people on board this boat being left to die four times (link to article). The first time, the 130 people were left to die by Frontex planes (and possibly those of other European authorities), which spotted the boat on the afternoon of 21 April, but left the scene before a rescue could be carried out. The 130 people were left to die a second time by the so-called Libyan coastguard, whose ship Ubari returned to port after intercepting another dinghy a few nautical miles away, but refused to continue the search for this second boat "due to weather conditions". The 130 people were left to die a third time by all the authorities, who refused to call in the merchant ship Bruna, which was less than 23 miles from the endangered dinghy and which did not respond to the distress call, claiming that it was waiting for orders from the authorities. Finally, a fourth time, the 130 people were left to die by the Italian Coast Guard, which refused to coordinate rescue operations until the evening of 21 April, despite having been informed of the danger several hours earlier. The reconstruction of events produced by Alarm Phone and Border Forensics tragically shows how all rescue options were knowingly ignored and the boat knowingly abandoned to its fate.
On the anniversary of this heartbreaking event, we wish to remember the missing, whose absence continues to haunt the communities to which they belonged. We call on the authorities to release all the information in their possession so that the responsibilities of all those involved can be determined.
Since then, despite the public outcry, nothing has changed in the central Mediterranean. We have continued to witness dozens of visible and invisible shipwrecks, we have continued to receive requests from families about their loved ones who have disappeared at sea, and we have continued to denounce the responsibility of the authorities in creating this violent border regime.
We call for an end to this violence, which can only be achieved through the abolition of borders and freedom of movement for all.
