An Italy-bound, thirty-meter-long fishing boat is about to sink. The location is around eighty kilometers from the southern coastal town of Navarino, Greece. The boat has a capacity to accommodate four hundred passengers. However, it is carrying over eight hundred people mostly from Pakistan, Egypt, and Syria. Many of the people on board are young boys in their late twenties. A few women and children could also be seen wearing a worrisome look on their faces. As the fishing boat has no tracker, it would not be shown on the map. The absence of food, fresh water and restrooms has aggravated an already awkward predicament. For the next five days, this vessel will drift away, and stay motionless for at least seven hours before it capsizes. The boat’s engine will stop working before it descends underwater.
Those who were forced to stay down, are frequently fainting or experiencing sea sickness. A couple of military vessels are in hearing distance. The Greek coastguards have tried to save the boat by towing it, but that action has precipitated the disastrous capsizing. A cargo ship has just dropped some bottles of water to the people on the boat. Amidst screams for help, one could see some of them jumping into the open sea. Several people including twelve Pakistanis would keep swimming for about forty minutes before being rescued by a speed boat passing by. A helicopter has reached the spot, but over three hundred people are already drowning. Helplessly. One passenger in a nearby speed boat looks at the sky where a few vultures are seen flying in circles.
It was the 14th of June 2023.
Sailor: The capsizing could have occurred by wave action, instability, or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability. As there was no Captain on the vessel, the act of recovering it was not possible. In any case, the boat was not designed for self-righting. It could be a navigation error or bad weather or gale winds. Therefore, to say that the boat sank because it was overloaded is too simplified an explanation.
Historian: Poor design and too low freeboard for good seaworthiness caused the Swedish warship shipwreck in 1628. The equipment failure led to the loss of Cruise ferry Estonia in 1994, a potentially salvageable ship. I agree. Overloading is but one of the reasons. Even waves attacking a ship can overwhelm and sink it.
Swimmer: Never enter the waters if you cannot swim. You must carry a life jacket and you must know how to survive after a shipwreck occurs. Staying calm is the key. Consider all your options but find a flotation device first.
Student: I am shivering. My stomach is filled with salt water. My body is losing heat faster than it can produce it. Low body temperature? I know, soon my heart and nervous system will stop working. Hypothermia? Am I going to die? Death? But I am just twenty-two. Ah, I cannot breathe. Kalima-e-Tayyaba…!! Ya Allah….!!!!
Mother: I told you. Didn’t I? Don’t let him leave. He was my only son. What if he didn’t have a job? I curse you. You will burn in hell. You sold the jewelry. You took loan. What kind of a father are you? Look, my only son is no more. My only son is dead. Are you even listening? My only son…!!!
Official: No worries, Sir. Your first speech is ready. You will be on air in ten minutes. Say that an effective strategy is in place and a high-level committee has been formed to investigate the incident. Convey that necessary information is collected and around two hundred DNA samples have been taken. Also, as many as twenty-seven human traffickers have already been arrested. More than seventy cases have been registered against smugglers involved in the Greece boat incident. Dead bodies will be brought back. Existing loopholes in the laws will be removed. As the affected families enter settlements with the suspects, the conviction rate is alarmingly low. Assure the people that those involved in human trafficking and employing illicit means to send people abroad would face appropriate punishment. The matter is being raised with countries that issue visas through illegal means. In addition, say that the nation will observe a day of mourning.
HRCP: The State must take responsibility for its part in the Greece boat tragedy. Indeed, it is a stark reminder to the State that it has failed to stem a longstanding and grievous human rights violation. Certainly, a serious lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies continues to allow traffickers to operate with impunity. The government must acknowledge that the dearth of economic opportunities in the country compels more and more people to take chances on such routes without being aware of the involved risks.
Old man: Same old story. No one is ready to take blame for this utterly unnecessary human disaster. The Government is doing what a government in countries like ours does. What could the poor FIA or its Anti-Human Trafficking Circle do when the unemployed youth willingly take life-threatening risks? In any case, they are helpless in implementing the existing laws let alone forestalling such catastrophes. The irony is that no record exists, anywhere, as to how many illegal immigrants made it to the destination. I wish the relevant authorities had shown even one-tenth of the efficiency that they have exhibited in reaching the concerned human traffickers and collecting DNA of around two hundred people in one day.
Agent: Yes, hello, yes, this is me. Did you talk to the guy? What did he say? No, I cannot pay that much in lumpsum. Installments? And why should I tell you where I am? No way. I know, I know but this was not the first time. It happens. Part of the game. Yes, I am hiding. Don’t call me again, okay? Meanwhile, tell all our clients…all is okay. The boat will leave on time, in sha Allah. Okay. I must go. Someone is knocking at the door…!!!