The recent migrant boat that sank off of the Greek coast shows the lack of clarity regarding migration laws. In order to prevent deaths on Mediterranean migration routes, the European Union, as well as individual nations, need to take responsibility to aid migrants. European authorities need to be held accountable when maritime law is violated in order to keep these horrors from repeating. This tragedy off of Greece’s coast needs to be remembered so that there can be significant changes made to the current migration process.
On June 14 of this year, an overcrowded fishing boat transporting migrants across the Mediterranean Sea capsized and has now shed light on the plethora of issues concerning international migration laws. This crisis has called into question not only international jurisdiction over migration, but also the responsibilities of local authorities.
This tragedy began to unfold on June 13, when a Frontex plane noticed an overcrowded fishing boat in international waters off of the coast of Greece. Frontex took note of the vessel, as it seemed that its weight was forcing the boat to move at a very slow pace. The UN migration agency confirms this overcrowding as they estimated that the vessel carried a range from 400 to 750 migrants. The European Union’s border agency then claimed to notify Greece and Italy about the boat sighting and its location. In a statement to CBS News, Frontex said its plane left as it needed to refuel, but the agency offered Greek authorities additional aerial support. However, Frontex received no response to their offer (Montoya-Galvez).
The Greek Coast Guard still attempted to assist the migrants as they claimed that they asked nearby boats to help the migrant vessel. The Greek authorities then sent one of their boats to help the migrants when they learned of the dangerous situation. The coast guard was able to find the migrants on, “ …the evening of June 13” but it was said that they rejected the aid and that they wanted, “ …to continue their journey to Italy” (Montoya-Galvez).
In the early hours of June 14, the migrant vessel sank at an estimated, “ …47 nautical miles from the coastal city of Pylos on the Peloponnese peninsula.” According to Greek officials, the boat’s engine was said to have failed. “The survivors who were rescued were …” then brought to Kalamata, Greece. The UN refugee agency stated that the migrants came from a wide range of nations including, “Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, the Palestinian territories, Pakistan and Syria.” As recently as June 28, Greek authorities have rescued 104 survivors and 82 bodies were recovered (Montoya-Galvez).
Survivors of the crisis confirm that the boat was overcrowded and that the boat began to move due to fights breaking out on the boat. This is a result of other vessels offering supplies to the migrants and those on the fishing boat began to fight over the supplies. Some of the survivors also claimed that the Greek authorities attempted to tow the migrant boat which caused it to rock in the waters. Due to this, some survivors blame Greek authorities for the capsizing of the boat. However, Greek authorities deny the attempted towing and claim that the boat sank due to the engine failure and migrant movement. The United Nations and other migrant advocates have stated that Greek officials had a responsibility to intervene in the situation earlier and that they should have evacuated the boat even if migrants resisted the efforts (Montoya-Galvez).
Unfortunately, migrants drowning at sea is not a rare phenomenon. According to the International Organization for Migration, over “ … 27,000 migrants have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014 ….” The majority of these deaths have happened, “ …in the central Mediterranean, the sea’s busiest migration corridor” (Montoya-Galvez).
There have been restrictive viewpoints towards migration arising in Europe following the 2015 Syria refugee crisis where roughly 1 million refugees were received in Europe. While EU members technically have relatively relaxed migration laws, nations including Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Sweden have wanted to restrict the number of migrants entering their countries. However, these restrictions are targeting those from Africa and the Middle East as Ukrainian refugees have been, for the most part, warmly welcomed by European nations (Montoya-Galvez).
The Greek government has complained of the migrant crisis as they are geographically predisposed to receiving many migrants as they are near Asia. However, Greek authorities have been accused of violating migrants and breaking international law. There are existing reports that Greek authorities have abandoned asylum-seekers at sea and this violates, “ …international law and EU policy” (Montoya-Galvez).
Greek officials are now facing criticism due to this recent migration crisis. Nikos Alexiou, the spokesman for the Greek Coast Guard, claimed that it would be too dangerous to intervene with the Italy-bound vessel. However, the Greek authorities are continuing to be met with criticism. Lawyers have stated that Greece should have helped the vessel no matter the circumstances. By not helping the vessel, Greek authorities violated maritime law (Horowitz et al.).
When analyzing the aftermath of this crisis, it seems that there is much contention over who is responsible for aiding migrant boats in need of help. Organizations and governments around the world need to create clear laws that discuss who should be responsible for aiding migrants.
