After the search and rescue organisation SOS Méditerranée discovered 11 bodies in international waters in the Mediterranean on Friday, 14 August, Sea-Watch’s monitoring aircraft Seabird 1 and the rescue organization RESQSHIP found three more bodies over the weekend. The crew spotted the corpses on Saturday, 15 August.
Following the discoveries, the rescue vessels Sea-Watch 5 and Nadir sailed to the bodies in order to initiate identification measures. Due to the state of decomposition and the limited recovery capacities of the civilian vessels, the bodies could not be recovered. To Sea-Watch’s knowledge, European authorities have so far not initiated any recovery operation either.
Giulia Messmer, spokesperson for Sea-Watch:
“These are the people behind ‘fewer arrivals’ – hunted while alive, forgotten once dead. Behind each of these bodies is a person with a life of their own and loved ones who may never know what happened. The responsibility lies with European politicians who prioritize border violence over human lives.”
Since the beginning of the year, more than 1,600 people have died or gone missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean. These bodies are a brutal reminder of the consequences of a policy that denies people safe routes while at the same time restricting, obstructing or failing to provide necessary rescue operations at sea. Sea-Watch calls for safe passages and a comprehensive, state-run search and rescue operation to prevent further deaths in the Mediterranean.
