The policies of the European Union (EU) “do not help the integration” of migrants and, until the problems are resolved, tragedies such as the shipwreck on Wednesday in Greece will occur again, he said this Friday, to the TSFFausta Pereira, project manager in the areas of education, international cooperation and social responsibility.
A ship heading to Italy from Libya capsized off the Greek coast Tuesday night, killing at least 78 people. “It doesn’t surprise me, unfortunately, and I’m sure it won’t stop until the root issues are resolved,” said Fausta Pereira.
The manager spent four and a half months in refugee camps in Greece, describing them as “rooms where things we don’t want to see are stored.” Fausta Pereira remembers a nine-year-old boy “who only drew boats with bodies around them”, expressing the “traumatic experience” he lived through.
Asked about the dangers that these trips entail, the manager stressed that “staying also implies risks” and that families have “hope.”
“People flee from conflicts, from persecution, from situations in which they have already lost family members. I had stories of young people who had already lost siblings and other relatives. Therefore, the situation they are experiencing is not a light situation, it is a context of conflict, ”he said.
For Fausta Pereira, it is necessary to think “of a more strategic way of integrating these people” and taking into account their desire to “rebuild a life.” The executive also added that the EU currently creates “access difficulties” and, furthermore, “once in Europe, immigrants become almost invisible.”
The director of the NGO Habibi Work, Mimi Hapig, who works with refugees in Greece, was also not surprised by this week’s tragedy.
“These horrible accidents have been going on for many years. The Mediterranean has been the deadliest maritime border in the world. So of course it was a shock, but unfortunately, it’s not something out of the ordinary in recent years. What got worse “and we are increasingly concerned about illegal discards. In other words, the agency that controls the borders, Frontex, pushes unsafe ships and people into international waters, to prevent them from entering Greek waters and reaching land and Europe,” he said in statements to TSF.
Mimi Hapig hopes that last Wednesday’s shipwreck will serve to “awaken consciences” and calls for “the protection of people, not borders.”
Nine men of Egyptian nationality were detained as part of the ongoing investigation into the sinking. According to the Greek authorities, they are suspected of human trafficking.
Since Wednesday, when the fishing boat sank, there have been no more rescues of survivors or recovery of bodies. The Greek authorities confirmed that 104 people were saved and 78 bodies of migrants were rescued from the Mediterranean Sea.
Most of the survivors were transferred this Friday to a migrant shelter near Athens, located in the port of Kalamata, where relatives had also gathered to search for relatives.
News updated at 14:53
Source: TSF
