Ghost Boat- Did we miss anything?
I started reading about the story of the Ghost Boat only recently. And it really made an impact on me… So I have been wondering if there is any chance in the world I might be able to help the issue since I live in India. However now I realized that there are people fleeing their homes, crossing the sea under the most dangerous conditions, dying… and still they try their best to make it. Hence me being in the other part of the world should not be any obstacle.
Thus at least I will help out with few ideas I was thinking about.
My first question is: Did the families of the Ghost Boat’s passengers contact each other? I think all the relatives we know of should sit at one table with Yafet and compare their notes. Talk about the phone calls they received, and all the clues they might have. If this did not happen already… Is anyone in contact with Yafet?
Then I had a question: did anyone show Yafet all the photographs of the items which came onshore? Maybe something belongs to his family. Maybe some things belong to the other families of the Ghost Boat’s passengers. And there also been pictures of dead bodies taken by journalists. Maybe some relative would recognize their loved ones from the photographs..?
I know it is difficult to accept, but more I am reading through the stories of the Ghost Boat the more I think there is a huge possibility the boat sunk. So we have to look for the evidence of: dead bodies found in the sea or on the shore, and belongings being cast out from Mediterranean sea.
I read stories about a millionaire Chris Catrambone who decided to rescue the migrants himself. The journalist who joined him was Giles Tremlett and he wrote a report about their mission from around the same time as the Ghost Boat got missing. I tried to contact him.. I’ll keep you posted. (here is his article; not the peak of the journalism but still gives some info: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/jul/08/millionaire-who-rescues-migrants-at-sea )
My next question is- which might have been previously answered- from where exactly the Ghost Boat departed? Which city?
Did anyone check this report? I did some research but found nothing relevant to our case. Maybe someone with a fresh perspective can find more.. 2nd and 3rd quarter: http://blue-borders.ch/index.php/events-2014/rd-quarter
While already in the sea people were often shifted from one boat to another… So are we really sure the Ghost Boat which left for Europe included the same people during the whole journey? They might have been separated, or put by the smugglers to a bigger boat with other passengers… Was Segen and Abi perhaps on one of these two sunk boats? http://news.yahoo.com/dozens-migrants-missing-boat-sinks-off-libya-coast-084607224.html
During my research I have come to realize an important fact: the time when our boat went missing was the peak time for people to cross the sea to Europe. The number of migrants have skyrocketed, especially those coming to Italy. This means less accurate numbers on the passengers of the boats, survivors and deaths. Only between June and Sept 15th 2014 occurred around 2200 deaths. http://www.amnesty.ch/de/themen/asyl-migration/europa/dok/2014/verantwortung-fuer-fluechtlinge-in-seenot/bericht-lives-adrift-refugees-and-migrants-in-peril-in-the-central-mediterranean-.-september-2014.-88-seiten
I know I have many questions, yet no answers. Perhaps it will inspire some other people in their search.
In the end I want to appeal to all: we need more people to join the search for the Ghost Boat. Because this is not a search for only this particular boat and these particular people. It is a search for all the missing people. And it will give hope to those who need it the most..
- * Most of the relevant bibliography I have used is included in the article. http://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/pbn/docs/Fatal-Journeys-Tracking-Lives-Lost-during-Migration-2014.pdf
UPDATE: In some cases it is possible to check the satellite images for certain hour of the day. I am thinking about contacting the Interpol which usually have an access to such an images- even though I’m not so sure if there are any for the Mediterranean moreover which country the satellite belongs to. However first we would need to build a strong case, or pull some strings to contact Interpol- obviously since they wouldn’t care about missing immigrants unfortunately :( Just a thought…
