Daily Times

Protests blaze across the streets of Greece after a boat carrying refugees and migrants capsized and plunged forever into the Peloponnesian waters, right off the southern coast of Greece. After launching their third and final day of a search for survivors in what is quickly being deemed one of the Mediterranean’s worst boat disasters, rescue teams were able to rescue 104 survivors and recovered a staggering 78 bodies. It is speculated that over 500 people are still missing, including 100 children trapped in the wreckage.

Maritime law requires Greek authorities to intervene if a boat is believed to be in danger even if the passengers aboard explicitly refuse assistance. But reports from sea-based human rights groups revealed that various migrants made repeated distress calls, entirely contradicting the government’s official stance. Aerial footage from the scene shows a vessel crammed with passengers on its exposed decks, with their hands outstretched as if awaiting help. The overloaded boat, which started in Libya, heading for a long voyage towards Italy, carried more than 500 illegal migrants, including a substantial number of Pakistanis, all hoping to build new lives in Europe.

With no legal migration routes available, given the EU’s recent crackdown on immigration, they entrusted their lives to a group of smugglers, embarking on a treacherous journey with the promise of a better life at the end. Under its conservative caretaker government, Greece, like many other European countries. has taken a far harder stance on migration, building walled camps and boosting border controls and effectively slamming the door on innocent people seeking protection. This incident demonstrates in the plainest ways the failure and consequences of the EU to promote a structured migrant policy that puts human life as the priority. It is estimated that more than 50,000 illegal immigrants travel through the European Union each year, acutely aware that such a journey comes with tremendous risks but ultimately too drawn to the promise of better opportunities to stay put. Indeed, until European policymakers expand safe routes so that people are not forced to undertake such deadly journeys, there will be many more deaths in the Mediterranean. *