By Karolina Tagaris , Renee Maltezou and Maya Gebeily
ATHENS/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Egyptian electrician Mahmoud Shalabi was the one particular person from his hometown to outlive when a fishing trawler full of migrants capsized off Greece a 12 months in the past, killing tons of in one of many deadliest recorded boat disasters within the Mediterranean.
Sixteen buddies from Shalabi’s neighborhood outdoors Cairo had been by no means discovered. At this time, their kinfolk name him each day to see if the lacking have turned up alive, or if there may be any information about what brought on the boat to sink that day final June.
“No one is accepting that they might be dead,” stated Shalabi in an interview in Athens, the place the 23-year-old is doing odd jobs whereas his asylum utility is processed.
“Families are being tortured every day, not knowing anything about their son or their brother or their father.”
The catastrophe on June 14 off southwestern Greece despatched shockwaves throughout Europe and past and raised questions in regards to the European Union’s techniques to stem the circulation of migrants from Africa and the Center East. The boat had set off from Libya.
However a 12 months on, no unbiased investigation has been accomplished into the coast guard’s function, nobody has been held accountable, and kinfolk await information of the destiny of family members, in line with interviews with a dozen survivors, kinfolk and attorneys.
The coast guard declined to remark. Transport minister Christos Stylianides stated the courts will discover out what occurred, in time. “We have to be patient,” he advised Reuters.
The reason for the shipwreck is disputed. Survivors say the authorities brought on the boat to capsize once they tried to tow it. Authorities say the boat refused help.
In a report compiled one week after the incident, two specialists appointed by the coast guard concluded that the motion of migrants onboard possible made it tip over.
Definitive solutions will assist guarantee such disasters do not occur once more, witnesses say.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Greece’s coastguard was conscious of the migrant ship on the morning of June 13, and monitored it from the air. The ship despatched out misery calls, however a coast guard boat didn’t arrive till 11 pm. The vessel sank three hours later.
The state of affairs on board was determined. Provides had run out. Shalabi was asleep beneath deck and woken by screams because the boat started to tackle water. He swam to the floor, which was crowded with floating corpses.
As much as 700 individuals had been estimated to be on board. Some 104 survived and 82 corpses had been recovered. The remaining are lacking. The seek for survivors proved fruitless.
Greek authorities for months blamed 9 Egyptians on board, however they had been launched final month when a Greek courtroom dismissed the case. The main focus of investigations is now more likely to fall on the coast guard, authorized specialists stated.
A neighborhood naval courtroom opened an investigation final 12 months, however it’s nonetheless at a preliminary stage, attorneys and authorities sources advised Reuters.
In November, Greece’s ombudsman Andreas Pottakis launched a probe after the coast guard twice rejected his requires an inside investigation, he stated. The probe continues.
Eleni Spathana, a lawyer representing dozens of survivors who sued Greek authorities in September alleging the coast guard brought on the catastrophe, stated fundamental questions stay unanswered about “the criminal omissions and actions” of Greek authorities.
DIM HOPES
Fatima Al-Rahil lives within the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan along with her 5 kids. Her husband Ihsaan set off for Europe final 12 months to attempt to get asylum and his household, who fled struggle in Syria, might be a part of him later.
Fatima final heard from him on June 9 because the boat left Libya.
Ihsaan could not swim, so took a automotive tire for buoyancy. However armed smugglers discarded his belongings as he boarded, stated his brother-in-law Khaled Al-Rahil, who was with him.
Ihsaan and Khaled had been separated within the catastrophe. “I don’t know what happened,” Khaled advised Fatima in a name the following day.
Fatima pushed for solutions. In November, she despatched a pattern of her son’s DNA to Greece through the Purple Cross. Three months later, authorities stated there was no match with any of the useless.
With no physique to bury, Fatima is left hoping. Possibly a fisherman discovered Ihsaan and is caring for him, she wonders. His kids miss him: he seems of their goals, proffering items – ear heaters, or sweet.
“We’re still living on hope, even if it’s just a 1% one,” she stated. “Maybe he went to heaven. But we’re still here. We are the victims.”