Suspected People Smugglers Arrested After Horror Sinking Which May Have Killed Hundreds

Nine Egyptian men, alleged to be people smugglers, have been arrested after a crowded fishing boat trafficking migrants to Europe capsized off the coast of Greece, leaving hundreds feared dead.

People smugglers have once again lured desperate people to their deaths aboard an overcrowded and unseaworthy boat [pictured, above], tragically an all-too-common occurrence off the coasts of a Europe which refuses to adequately control its borders and shut down the smugglers’ business model. The sinking is being called the worst sea disaster in years.

Nine men have been arrested, accused of being people smugglers and mass murderers.

The number of dead and survivors has remained steady for two days, now, since the initial rescue operation: 78 dead and 104 survivors. The figures raise the frightening prospect of enormous numbers of undiscovered dead, given survivors claiming there were as many as 750 people onboard.

Tragically, it is claimed some 100 children were also onboard, riding in the hold when the fishing ship capsized. In all authorities fear there are around 500 people still unaccounted for.

Earlier reports stated that while “repeated” offers of aid were made to the stricken ship, they were refused, a coast guard statement saying on Wednesday: “they refused any assistance and said they wanted to continue to Italy.”

Greek coast guards reportedly used loudhailers to warn the ship they were dangerously overloaded and tied ropes onto the vessel for safety. Shockingly, people onboard the ship untied the ropes to prevent the ship from coming under the control of the coast guard. “Several hours” later, the ship sank.

Underlining the role callous people smugglers play in the deaths of migrants at sea, Greece announced the arrest of suspected people smugglers responsible for the ship and tragedy, reports the Greek newspaper Kathimerini. The nine men, the newspaper relates, are Egyptians aged between 21 and 40 years old and are alleged to be smugglers crewing the ship and otherwise transporting the migrants.

The men have until Monday to testify before a magistrate, it is said. They will face charges including mass murder.

A coast guard officer speaking to the paper said the scale of the conspiracy to transport this number of migrants to Europe in one go is vast, with the operation for the sailing having been under preparation for “40, possibly even 50 days”.

A retired Greek coast guard Admiral speaking to Greek television, reports the Guardian, said of the type of fishing vessel involved in the disaster: “We have seen old fishing boats like this before from Libya. They are not at all seaworthy. To put it simply, they are floating coffins.”

While preventing people from dying in huge numbers and with tremendous suffering should be a priority, there is disagreement over how to achieve it. There was a protest over the disaster in Athens on Thursday night, which — per The Guardian — demanded: “European Union migration policies be eased to prevent another tragedy”.

Banners at the protest accused the European Union of being the murderers, rather than the people smugglers because the political bloc had failed to abolish all border controls. Molotov cocktails were reportedly thrown at police.

Yet only one method has a proven track record of preventing avoidable migrant deaths at sea, the robust border controls deployed by Australia from 2013. Taking a no-migrant boat whatsoever approach, Breitbart News reported in 2017 on the remarkable success of a policy which didn’t see a single migrant boat land on Australia for 900 consecutive days.

This policy of turning back all migrant boats and using offshore processing centres was launched after a disaster at sea in 2010 saw 27 killed when a boat of illegals suffered engine failure then sank. By putting people smugglers out of business, Australia protected its own borders and also protected the lives of migrants who might have been duped into risking a sea crossing by people smugglers.

The halfway house presently in force in Europe, where there are border controls but they are badly enforced and official and NGO-provided ‘search and rescue’ missions seem to be the worst of all worlds, with a report finding the situation both encourages people smugglers by buttressing their business model, and increases drownings.

As the European Union’s own border force reported:

Both border surveillance and SAR missions… have unintended consequences. Namely, they influence smugglers’ planning and act as a pull … Dangerous crossings on unseaworthy and overloaded vessels were organised with the main purpose of being detected by [rescue vessels]… all parties involved in SAR operations in the Central Mediterranean unintentionally help criminals achieve their objectives at minimum cost, strengthen their business model by increasing the chances of success.

Migrants and refugees – encouraged by the stories of those who had successfully made it in the past – attempt the dangerous crossing since they are aware of and rely on humanitarian assistance to reach the EU.