Europe's Migration Tragedy: Life and death in the Mediterranean

In the last three years more than 10,000 men, women and children have died trying to cross this stretch of water, migrants, people, each one had a story, a hope, a dream. In just six days, they will witness the intensity of the rescue attempts, the helplessness of the migrants and the hopelessness of the effort to end the crisis continues to breathe, come on, this is what

death

and survival looks like as a journalist. I have reported on almost every aspect of this continent's

migration

crisis, everything except the most dangerous part of the migrants' journey. sea ​​crossing where thousands are saved and thousands die there is calm in our departure early in the morning the sea is flat and the air warm there is apprehension and like adrenaline we travel with medical rescuers and sailors aboard the topaz responder a floating ambulance they know their roles and They also know the challenges, but the next six days will be among the most difficult they have ever experienced.

This phone comes in what these verses talk about like this. Be with them through it all as observers who become participants. We can work around their counsel and then we can work to see the bonds formed between all of us and with those who will be saved. We had a In cases like that I have stood on the side and the stretch could actually be taken from the foredeck all the way down the stern because in the end this team of professionals are just people saving other people Malta is the space of the boat from here We are heading south towards Libya.

In this war-torn country where thousands of people leave in search of a better

life

in Europe, traffickers gather migrants on the beaches of cities along the coast, but few of them are actually from Libya. The 300,000 who made this trip in 2016 are from all over Africa, the Middle East and beyond, they have traveled to Libya because that is the gateway to Europe and in this lawless place no one stops them from coming. The sea they think they will cross is enormous, it will take us 24 hours. From Malta to the area where your ships will have problems, the journey south is the time for the crew to train and get to know each other.

When we recover the victim, first someone is always there to look at that birth. There are three teams here and We have not all worked together before the Topaz crew lead the ships from Tanzania, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, the doctors are from the Red Cross, a doctor and his nurses and the rescuers are the backbone. No, we, the Offshore Migrant Aid Station, a charity. make profits and they are not political claims Nicholas Roerich I am the April sailor so I am a FRDC crew member and a rescue swimmer so when we have a rescue I get on the rescue boat and if someone needs to board one of the migrant boats the Coordinator on site can give me the green light and I will come on board and start stabilizing the ship and keeping people calm for rescuers like Nick.

There is anxiety about this downtime as we head south because he knows what is coming when we have harsh weather like this, it can be pretty quiet for a couple of days, the problem with that is that people, so, all the Those who want to leave begin to pile up on the beaches and everyone leaves at the same time. So that can mean up to 20 pots, maybe 30 pots. I think what some people found last week was that they had 6,500 people in one day. The crew has different ways of passing their time. There is a beautiful Medina.

There are about two or three black barrels. and they are attached to each other so that they float and there is a length of thread under them and there will be palm trees attached to that and it creates a shaded area for the fish to come in because the fish stone could be hanging in the sun. and they congregate around shady areas, so let's fish back and forth and see if we can catch one of the fish for dinner. We have seven. It just passed 5:00 a.m. m. The team just woke me up here in May. last migrant rescue ship and they should be rescued shortly, so please tell us what is happening.

Yes, we had a report on the radio. The Italian Coast Guard or a tag asset called a professional anchored in Libyan waters who reports that there is some rubber. boats around them just trying to get more information about what we are moving west in case they have lived far from the coast so we can help them if there is any help it's like people can get to this area what We are far from here. If they are not in favor, no, it will be ten months. Search and rescue team leader Marco Kouchi explains that there is a migrant boat two miles off the coast of Libya that is within dangerous Libyan waters, but the smugglers will have only provided the migrants with limited fuel to a boat that is overcrowded and of poor quality, so a rescue will have to arrive the coordination is by radio from the Italian authorities in Rome it is time to move only when you come face to face with the migrant boat you realize how crazy and dangerous and how desperate this whole thing is the red drum on the back of the boat is your fuel tank so it's an open fuel tank it's basically not closed so it's those drums for splitting the gas the vote is up full and the challenge for the team is enormous.

Now we approach the migrants, the rescue teams' job now is to carry the

life

jackets from this rescue boat to the boat. Two instructions from this man from Paul the Nick need to take control to keep people calm. The majority here can't. swim we are 12 miles off the coast of Libya Europe is 200 miles north they must remain seated until the main rescue boat can be docked mid-rescue a surprise appears the Libyan Coast Guard these are the people who are supposed to they need to stop Hi, I'm Mark from Sky News, how are you? Salameh, consumers of dirt, we managed to have a few words with them.

They told us they are trying, but it is impossible. They say there are so many. many leave this is what a good rescue looks like no one died no one was hurt please stay seated we have been doing line by line okay come on they check them and in a few hours they transfer them to another ship they will head to Italy we go take it slowly you should sit down anyway but here is the uncomfortable reality of where you are from I am little Muraki a new maraca yes where are you from East Pakistan eh Pakistan Pakistan give me Libya Morocco Morocco my nationality is Moroccan I from Libya I am working many of these people have no right to be in Europe they will not get asylum because they are not from countries at war they are not persecuted they are simply escaping the hopelessness of poverty but if they have not been rescued it is almost certain that they would have died and in the morning the crew You will face an extraordinary challenge.

It's only been a few hours since yesterday's rescue. They're outside again. The crew of the Topaz responder has trained for this, but in the dark here everything is so. much more difficult, many things can go wrong. My concern is if the remedy has been out since yesterday all day, he could be severely dehydrated because they usually leave, we don't, so you may see a serious medical condition as we approach the migrant boat. It is immediately clear how challenging this will be. There are over a hundred men, women and babies aloft on board. Great, oh oh, do you figure it out?

We are there, we are here to save you, save, you know, you have to stay calm and stay seated. sit down, everyone, calm down, start talking, I read it, I'm next, the priority is to give everyone life jackets, but when they launched the first ones, everyone reached out to snatch them, the rescuers retreated in an attempt to restore order and crowd control in Mar at night with people who don't know how to swim and are terrified. This is almost impossible. A huge challenge for the team. Here you are trying to ensure that everyone remains seated. If too many people get on that flimsy boat, it will capsize.

We are all in the water, some of them can sway, so after a few very tense moments, Nick managed to get on the boat and believes that it will be easier to calm the migrants if he is there himself, now they could resume the delivery of the vests lifeboat with the main rescue boat next to the boat, they must be unloaded one by one carefully and order Joey not to start Joey Joey if everyone moves at once stability will be lost the first ones withdraw safely babies but then there is a rush and then this in the water there are gallons of fuel from the boat and they are swallowing it Jeff Giant reduces eight as journalists we have the obligation to observe from the detachment to report but here a human

tragedy

is unfolding in front of us now we are part of this oh my hat hold my hat he breathed come on come on his name is abdul latif 133 and he survived ah in the chaos it takes us all a few moments to realize that the savior Paul Chamberlain is in trouble Give me a hat Oh Paul, are you okay?

Are you OK? Yes, there is a lot of fuel in the water, so I am very, very aware. I'll take it off. I'm scanning the horizon as we go. Yeah, hey, state, stay away, they thought. The rescue was carried out and then in the water we saw more cycling jackets and it really has become a nightmare. Now at least one person is dead, maybe more, how can this be dealt with? Where is my lemon? Okay, there are even more people. Seven people were lost yesterday. 134 were saved and that is what the crew needs to focus on now they are exhausted they are cold and wet but alive only a few there is not much I can do for her at this time just to look at the six children they all survived three babies with their mothers and older boy - but the other two brothers have lost their parents for now surprisingly they don't seem to realize there are some here who are refugees where are your parents my parents I don't know where they are no my mom is in the camps in Ethiopia and My dad I don't hear about him like he wants to finish his education away from the war in South Sudan what's your topic almost Trade yes, but the majority here are not refugees, they are simply escaping the hopelessness of poverty.

I'm going to Europe, so look. For some reason, you know, walk, I get some money from good citizenship there so I can rescue my family in Nigeria. The economy is not really healthy. They don't just want a better future and with such simple ambitions, my plan. It's that Fortuna Milwaukee car, can we convert what it was then to make it look better than what it had before? That's when it's Angela, how strong must that desire be to go through what we've now seen twenty-four hours later? Lives are saved in Europe and links are created, but their journey, their recovery is far from over, some will be granted asylum, some will be sent home, many will disappear into an illegal limbo.

Europe's ability to cope with such an extraordinary movement of people is failing terribly, but those who decide to do so to save lives will not stop if we see that the reality could be out here. Think that if you saw the reality of the human side, human suffering, then you would intervene and help, regardless of what you think. now at home