SHARE THIS. Palestinian refugees from Syria escaped the siege of their refugee camps to Libya only to continue their journey (makes sense). This is the transcript of what happened afterwards, account translated into English: We are talking about another boat sinking near the Libyan coast. Entire families have died. We are talking about a new catastrophe. We are talking about bodies floating at sea, Palestinian bodies, today. At 10:15 PM on Thursday a boat sailed from the village of Jawara, about 150 km from Tripoli. The boat sailed with about 370 - 400 people on board. Most of them Palestinian families, sailing towards Malta. These were Palestinians of Syria. We are talking about a high speed chase by another boat near the Libyan shores. Until now we do not know if that boat belonged to the Libyan maritime police or not because they were wearing plain, civilian clothes. They fired at the boat and the pursued boat continued to proceed. The captain refused to stop. And the hot pursuit continued until about 4:00 AM when the boat managed to escape. But, unfortunately, after that the boat was unable to proceed on its journey. The boat had a malfunction. Communication was then established with the Italian authorities and the Italian authorities responded that this boat does not fall within Italian waters, so they must contact the Maltese authorities. Communication was established with the maltese authorities, and they said they do not have the capacity to assist. Therefore, communication was re-established with the Italian authorities. This time they responded that they will come within 40 minutes, but, unfortunately, after 20 minutes from that call the boat sank completely. After 40 - 60 minutes the Maltese, Italian, and Tunisian maritime authorities intervened. To the sade fortune of these people, only a few people were saved. Initial estimate indicate that more than half of those on board have met their fate. This is not the first such incident during the past month. Who is responsible in the face of the silence regarding these events? At least 6 warnings have gone out. We have said that the international community has a responsibility. And the Palestinian authorities have a responsibility. Maybe we can take advantage of this opportunity to say, the Palestinian ambassador in Italy has a responsibility and the Palestinian ambassador in Malta has to ask himself whether he truly belongs to the Palestinian people. It’s a sad reality that there is a not taking seriously to the point that he is not reaching out to the family, these families and others, before them, that have managed to make it to the Maltese territories and cannot find food to eat. There is a responsibility. The responsibility is a joint one, including the Arab people and Arab countries, a big responsibility, especially because what drove these folks to depart is hostile treatment leveled against Palestinian refugees living in Syria and neighboring Arab countries. Their situation is dire, to the point that cannot be overstated or described really. European countries and their laws bear responsibility. They must facilitate and guarantee safe passage for these refugees. Because the situation of these refugees: they do not have identification papers, they do not have citizenships that can permit them to go to other countries for safety. The European high commission, the UN high commission for refugees, have both abdicated their responsibilities, and now refuse to even recognize them as refugees. We are faced with exceptional circumstances. The situation of Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria is a humanitarian catastrophe that demands everyone to take a position at this moment. That position will already be late, if ever taken, because daily hundreds are dying at sea without anyone moving, without their conscious shaken. - MTL
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 10:23:02 +0000
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