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Gallery|Migration

Photos: Lampedusa marks 10-year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks

In 2013 a trawler carrying asylum seekers from Eritrea and Somalia had capsized off Italy’s Lampedusa killing 368 people.

Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
Survivors of the 2013 shipwrecks say Italian and European institutions are prioritising their borders over lives [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]
By Federica Marsi
Published On 3 Oct 20233 Oct 2023
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Lampedusa, Italy – Survivors and relatives of the hundreds that died in two shipwrecks 10 years ago, off the Italian island of Lampedusa, cried and embraced one another on Tuesday.

On October 3, 2013, a rickety trawler carrying asylum seekers from Eritrea and Somalia capsized a short distance off the island’s famed islet, Rabbit Island. Only 155 people survived, while 368 people drowned.

Days later, on October 11, a second vessel carrying mostly Syrians fleeing the war-torn country capsized some 32km (20 miles) off the coast, killing 268 people, including 60 children.

Emmanuel Ghebreyusu, 53, said his niece would have been 30 had she survived the disaster.

“It has really been tough over the past 10 years,” Ghebreyusu said. “Coming back to Lampedusa was painful but necessary to remember the victims, as well as over 28,000 people who have since died crossing the Mediterranean Sea.”

The mourners marched to the five-metre (16-foot) high Gate of Europe, a monument designed by the Italian sculptor Mimmo Paladino that is built like a gateway, where they tossed flowers into the sea, a poignant symbol of their suffering.

“I wish authorities would do more to save lives. Human lives are more important than anything,” he said.

Vito Fiorino, a fisherman who pulled 47 people out of the water on October 3, said he remembered one man who had been left naked by the fury of the sea.

“He was covering himself to preserve some dignity, so I took off my trousers and gave them to him.”

Comitato Tre Ottobre, a coalition of civil rights groups and activists that campaigned to make October 3 a “National Day of Remembrance and Reception” under Italian law, said Italian and European institutions had failed over the past decade to take adequate action to save lives at sea.

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“These have been 10 years of indifference, we haven’t learned anything,” Tareke Brhane, the coalition’s president, said.

The UN Refugee Agency estimates that about 5,000 people have died over the past 18 months, but Brhane said the real numbers are much higher.

“Nobody goes looking for the bodies of migrants,” Brhane said. “Even when dead, they remain invisible.”

Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
According to Comitato Tre Ottobre, a coalition of civil actors, the past decade has been marked by indifference on the part of governments and institutions. [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]
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Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
The mayor of Lampedusa, Filippo Mannino, and representatives of Italian institutions have attended a march to the “Gate of Europe” in Lampedusa. [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]
Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
Survivors and relatives of the victims have shared tears and embraces as they marked 10 years since the tragic shipwrecks. [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]
Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
A decade since the tragic shipwrecks, civil society and survivors are demanding that governments “stop invisible deaths” at sea. [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]
Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
More than 28,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea in multiple shipwrecks since 2014. [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]
Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
On October 11, a second vessel carrying mostly Syrians fleeing the war-torn country capsized some 32km off the coast of Lampedusa. At least 60 children died in the shipwreck. [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]
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Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
Survivors say victims are not just numbers but human beings who came to Europe “in search of freedom, and peace”. [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]
Lampedusa marks 10 year anniversary of tragic shipwrecks
Banners with the dates and number of victims of shipwrecks from the last decade have been held up during the march in Lampedusa. [Illary Palmisano/Al Jazeera]


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