In front of them, there was Europe and the promises of another life. They will never see the shores of it. At least 130 illegal immigrants died south of the Sicily Canal on the night of Wednesday 21 to Thursday 22 April, in the sinking of their boat off the Libyan coast. According to the NGO Alarm Phone, these migrants could have been saved. In a report detailing hour by hour the unfolding of the tragedy, the NGO attributes this shipwreck to the rejection of responsibility on the European side and to the“Incompetence” of “Coast guards” Libyans.
According to the story of Alarm Phone, a hotline that takes calls from migrants in distress, its volunteers were contacted on the morning of April 21 by a Libyan fisherman who was off Khoms, in the west of the country. A migrant boat, which would have set sail around 10 p.m. the day before, was then in distress offshore. A first alert was sent by e-mail at 9:51 am to the coordination and rescue centers in the surrounding countries: Italy, Libya and Malta.
The NGO managed to reach the satellite phone on board the boat from 10:03 am Contact is difficult. There is wind in the background. The voice that is expressed is cut off, and calls are systematically cut off. “We could almost only distinguish their calls for help, we had to piece together the puzzle”, remembers Pierre (first name has been changed), a volunteer based in Berlin, who wishes to remain anonymous. Early in the morning, the boat’s GPS coordinates were transmitted to Maltese, Libyan and Italian authorities, in the hope that they would dispatch a merchant navy vessel to the area.
“We feel when things are going to change”
The boat is about 200 km from the Libyan coast according to GPS data that The world was able to consult, “An empty sector, with no one to take responsibility for a shipwreck”, Judge Pierre. In this so-called “Search and Rescue” (SAR) zone, it is up to Tripoli to intervene. Six phone numbers were dialed by the association in the hope that its “Coast guards” intervene. No answer. “It is very rare, but sometimes, if we are lucky, they answer us”, says Pierre.
Following several telephone conversations with the boat, the Alarm Phone volunteers were able to estimate the number of illegal immigrants on board at more or less 130 people, including seven women – one of them is pregnant. The tub is made up of two rubber floats, “Like a Zodiac, but less solid, and above all not at all designed for a crossing”.
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