Monday, February 16, 2015

Italy: Lampedusa survivors' tales of despair should shock EU into action - Feb 16, 2015

from Amnesty International News

     "The European Union’s limited search and rescue resources contributed to the soaring death toll after four rubber dinghies carrying hundreds of migrants sent out an SOS in stormy weather in the southern Mediterranean last week, Amnesty International revealed today after a visit to Lampedusa.
     Following the tragedy that claimed more than 300 lives, an Amnesty International research team carried out interviews, in Rome and Lampedusa, with survivors, members of the Italian coastguard and local authorities."
Click here for entire article. 

 “When the boat sank, I could not find my friends. I was asking: where are they? Then I found Omar, but another friend was nowhere to be found. I tried to help others, but could not. Omar and I helped each other, but it was difficult to swim for hours. In the water, everyone was looking for family and friends.”
Mohammed, 21, a Syrian refugee, describing to Amnesty International in May 2014 the dramatic experience he endured on 11 October 2013, when the boat he was on with some 400 other people, sank 70 miles off Lampedusa, an Italian island in the Mediterranean.

Also see "Stop people from suffering and dying at our borders!" from Amnesty International. Article is also available in Arabic and includes a link to email alerts about this important issue.