China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Italy shipwreck survivors call for justice one year on
CROTONE, Italy — Survivors and family members of victims of a tragic shipwreck a year ago that killed 94 migrants, including 35 minors, just a few meters off Italy’s southern coast, returned for three days of commemorations ending on Monday, calling for justice to be done.
A torchlight vigil on the beach where the ship was wrecked, a photo exhibition and a protest march were among events organized by a group of activists named Network Feb 26 — after the date of the tragedy — around the town of Crotone. Most of the dead came from countries in the Middle East or South Asia.
“One year after the carnage, their right to the truth, to justice and to be reunited with their families has not been guaranteed yet,” the group wrote on its Facebook page.
On Feb 26 last year, a wooden boat departed from Turkiye carrying about 200 migrants and sank just a few meters off the coast of southern Calabria, while trying to land on the seaside resort beach of Steccato di Cutro.
Over the past year, survivors and relatives of the victims have voiced their rage, stressing that the tragedy could have been avoided if authorities reacted earlier to the migrants’ desperate calls for help.
At a news conference held in Crotone on Monday, some relatives of the victims announced they intend to sue the Italian government for failing to rescue the boat in distress and for damages suffered by the families.
The group Network Feb 26 includes more than 400 associations that have repeatedly asked the Italian government to seek the truth about one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.
It has denounced repeated policy failures and alleged violations of human rights by Italian and European Union authorities, seen as the main cause behind the long string of deaths of migrants who face risky trips to reach European coasts in their search for a better life.
Activists have also complained that some of the relatives and survivors were denied the right to return to Crotone for the anniversary of the shipwreck because of difficulties in obtaining proper documents.