SEA OF HEARTBREAK

What do you think of when you hear the word "Mediterranean"?  A bright blue expanse of seemingly endless water meeting a sky so blue that you cannot tell where the one ends and the other begins?  Holidays filled with lazy days passed on golden sands, the warmth of the waves massaging your body and people enjoying themselves all around you?  Or perhaps you think of the cookery of the region, replete with ingredients that were once thought exotic in Britain - olive oil, olives, peppers, aubergines, artichokes, okra... When I was a child, British people didn't holiday abroad as a matter of course and the Mediterranean seemed glamorous, mysterious and impossibly far away.  Young ladies from the USA or Britain who did arrive upon its shores had their heads turned by "that old moon above the Mediterranean sea", as Louis Prima sang.  Even now, I think I could have my head turned were some elderly prince to rise, Venus-like, from the waves.

"Mare Nostrum" to the Romans, the major trade route for peoples whose cultural heritage sings to us down the centuries - the Mesopotamians, Persians, Egyptians, Phoenicians and Greeks to name but a few - this was where the West began to meet the East, the crossroads of cultures and for many the centre of the world.

In our own era, though, as I've written many times before, this sea has come to signify tragedy and the end of hope for thousands of unfortunate souls who have found themselves trapped in horrific situations only because of their geographical position on the globe. Usually, however, their stories, though widely reported in Italy and Spain as the countries to which these "boatloads of sorrow" were headed, do not make world headlines.  Today, however, is an exception:

On Monday night, Tunisian fishermen in the Mediterranean spotted a young man clinging to a jerry can and the remains of an inflatable dinghy.  The fishermen immediately alerted the Tunisian Coastguard, who managed to rescue the 25-year-old man, who is now being treated for dehydration and exposure in hospital in Zarzis.

According to this survivor, the boat had left Libya 15 days before with 55 passengers hoping to reach Europe. Half of the passengers were Eritrean. After one day, the boat had almost reached the Italian coast but was blown back by strong winds. The passengers had not been allowed to take any drinking water on board so, in stifling heat, they began to suffer from dehydration and some, in desperation, drank sea water. Then the boat began to deflate.  The young man saw his fellow-passengers die one by one, among them three of his relatives.  

Image: Wikipedia

Laura Boldrini of UNHCR told La Repubblica that it is impossible that the boat had not been seen by the crews of other vessels in its 15 days on a sea full of military shipping. She said that sometimes crews are reluctant to help boats carrying migrants as the crews can often come under suspicion themselves or, at the very least, be held up while enquiries are made. T. Alexander Aleinikoff, the UN's Deputy Commissioner for Refugees, has made the following statement:

"I call upon all vessels at sea to be on heightened alert for migrants and refugees needing rescue in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean is one of the busiest seaways in the world and it is imperative that the time honoured tradition of rescue at sea be upheld."

Ms Boldrini also explained that the Eritreans had fled their own country because of war and compulsory military service with no end date so they had not been able to return.

Another migrant boat, carrying 38 men, 11 women and one minor from Somalia was reported to be still at sea earlier today after its passengers refused the help of the Maltese coastguard.  This boat is believed to be the one later intercepted by the Italian coastguard. Its passengers, who are requesting refugee status, have been taken to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo, where they are being processed and helped.

ANSA has just reported that the Algerian coastguard has intercepted two stolen dinghies carrying 30 people, including three minors, and heading for Southern Europe.