A flotilla of Italian fishermen motored into rough seas off Lampedusa on Saturday to drop a bouquet of yellow flowers near the spot of a shipwreck where more than 100 African migrants drowned. Some of them bristled at reports that a boat may have violated the “law of the sea” and ignored migrants fighting for their lives.
The search to recover more bodies, meanwhile, was called off for a second day because of the bad weather conditions. More than 200 migrants, possibly as many as 250, may still be missing.
The 20-metre migrant boat sank Thursday after a fire was set onboard to attract attention of any passing boats or people on shore. So far, 111 bodies have been recovered and 155 survivors have been accounted for.
About 10 fishing vessels headed out to the site of the shipwreck in choppy seas to drop the flowers and blast their horns in honor of the migrants who died.
Reports that a boat didn’t help the stranded migrants prompted a Dutch lawmaker to call for an investigation. While survivors have told authorities that a boat passed, there has been no single boat identified nor have prosecutors launched a formal investigation.
Italian lawmaker Pia Locatelli, who visited the survivors Saturday, told The Associated Press the migrants reported that a boat circled them with a light and then went away. They also saw one or two more boats in the distance before the fire.
Interpretations of an Italian law aimed at curbing illegal migration dissuade boat captains from helping migrants in distress, legislators have said.
“To come to rescue is a duty. Not to come to rescue is a crime,” Laura Boldrini, the Italian house speaker who previously and for many years was the UN Refugee Agency spokeswoman in Italy told reporters in Lampedusa after visiting the survivors.
She said it was a misinterpretation of the law to conclude that offering aid to people in need on the open sea could in any way result in criminal charges. In addition, Boldrini said the phenomenon needs to be tackled in the countries of origin and not with punitive measures against those fleeing misery and violence.
Fishermen, including one who saved several dozen of the migrants from the shipwreck, said offering help to those in need is part of their code.
“It’s the law of the sea!” Vito Fiorini said. “If you find somebody in need you must immediately help. How could you turn away when you see a person who needs help?
“They do it (help) all the time, it’s unthinkable that a fisherman of Lampedusa would pretend to see nothing!”
CBC 2013