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[Poetic.Injustice]

Note: The audio featured in the above video and below photo contains harrowing content that some readers might find disturbing.

Hundreds of Syrian refugees crammed into a sinking boat headed toward Europe repeatedly begged the Italian coast guard to save them, leaked audio shows. But authorities appeared to deflect their requests, potentially breaching international law.

A total of 268 people died because no one came to rescue them until five hours after they made their first cry for help.

L’Espresso obtained and published Monday the audio of the exchange that took place on Oct. 11, 2013, featured in the above video.

Syrian Dr. Mohanad Jammo, one of the boat’s passengers, can be heard pleading for help in several calls to the Italian coast guard. The boat was only 60 nautical miles south of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, a point of arrival for many migrants and refugees.

“Please help, water is coming into [the boat],” he said to the coast guard operator in the first call, placed tat 12:39pm local time. “Please hurry, please hurry, please hurry. The boat is going down.”

Jammo called again at 1:17pm, but the operator told him to contact Malta’s authorities instead.

“You are near Malta,” the operator said. That wasn’t the case; the ship was located 118 miles southwest of Malta.

At 1:48pm, Janno tried again and was told the same thing.

“We are dying, please!” he responded.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/audio-refugees-died-capsizing-boat_us_5911bfd4e4b0104c735265c6

 

[Shaanyboi]

Oh what the fuck

 

[SamuelSupreme]

This just seems cruel.

 

[Insane Metal]

butwhy.gif

 

[freethoughtbubble]

I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it. How do you not help?

 

[Herr Schwarz]

Yeah shocking.

Then again increasing climate change and constant civil war... get used to seeing more soon to dead people fleeing into the waters of liberal nations.

Or squashing up against a wall etc.

There will be piles and piles.

 

[Poetic.Injustice]

Gatti said he obtained the recordings from “sources in Malta,” who leaked the tapes on the condition of anonymity. He verified the tapes by comparing them with other recordings in possession of Italy’s judicial authorities, who are leading an investigation into the incident. Gatti argued that the tapes show that Italian authorities usually delayed in trying to rescue ships rather than moving immediately.

Gatti refused to speculate about the political implications of the tapes, but the leak comes at a time when anti-refugee sentiment is running high in Italy and nongovernmental organizations that help rescue migrants at sea have been accused of encouraging illegal immigration.

A fourth tape shows that Maltese authorities were willing to take command of the rescue mission but asked their Italian counterparts to send their nearby ship. The Italians refused.

In a gut-wrenching conversation at 4:44 p.m., an Italian coast guard officer tells the Maltese navy that Italy would not move the ship because it “represents an important asset in order to spot new targets” — and because that would put Italy “in charge of transfer to the nearest coast.”

At that point, Malta sent a surveillance plane to check on the refugees. At 5:07 p.m., the Maltese called the Italians, telling them that the refugees’ ship had capsized. They urged the Italians to send their ship because their own would not arrive in time to save the Syrians. Only then did Italy agree to send its ship.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...own-says-leaked-audio/?utm_term=.5b137489551d

 

[Emperor_Uriel]

These poor people. From one tragedy to another.

Times like this, you've really got to hope there's a blissful, joyous afterlife. We just don't have our shit together here.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it. How do you not help?

Not my problem mentality. The dehumanization of Refugees is also very real.

 

[Tarydax]

Horrifying and cruel.

 

[Usobuko]

Rip.

Running away from a war you played no part in and getting turned away by people incapable of basic humanity aid.

Sometimes I hope hell exist just to see the faces of hypocritical folks there stunned by the fact they landed in hell.

 

[Mariolee]

I cannot comprehend the magnitude of this tragedy that could have been so easily prevented. I don't know if I can bear to listen to the audio.

 

[Deleted member 80556]

A total of 268 people died because no one came to rescue them until five hours after they made their first cry for help.

Fuck humanity. I'm already feeling distress imagining how it sounds, there's no way I'm listening to that.

 

[see5harp]

Gonna pass on audio. Makes me sick to even think about it.

 

[Zantetsuken]

The world we live in today...I refuse to listen.

 

[OG Shaka Zulu]

This is fucking disgusting. Those people were ignored and left to die because they were "Others".

 

[LordKasual]

well with the impending climate disaster, the future Earth is probably going to be getting alot of this sort of thing, on much larger scales

looking grim

 

[SilentRacoon]

They were trying to flee into a more civilized place, except no one told them the right to live is reserved for a selected few, Muslims and brown people are not part of it.

Disgusting in every way, this will no doubt be used as propaganda to bolster terrorism support.

 

[leatherhat]

They were trying to flee into a more civilized place, except no one told them the right to live is reserved for a selected few, Muslims and brown people are not part of it.

This is fucking disgusting. Those people were ignored and left to die because they were "Others".

Rip.

Running away from a war you played no part in and getting turned away by people incapable of basic humanity aid.

Sometimes I hope hell exist just to see the faces of hypocritical folks there stunned by the fact they landed in hell.

To give some context:

43,000 pickups for the year. Up to 3,000 a day.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/...escued-mediterranean-sea-170507043116392.html

Its impossible to keep up with and you will see more people drown. A lot more.

 

[Blablurn]

we live in a fucked up world

 

[NewGame]

If you don't want to listen. Here's a short text version:

<Ship is sinking>

*Calls Malta*

Doctor, who can speak english on the boat:
We need help, we were abandoned by our captain, there's no way for us to control this boat- it's over populated- there's children on board. We are <Coordinates>. Please help.

Maltese Coastguard:
Sorry, you're not our responsiblity. Try Italy.

*Calls Italy*

Italian Coastguard:
Sorry, you're not our responsiblity. Try Malta.

*Back and forth*

<Coast guards and military start trying to confirm if the boat is real>

5 hours later

"Did you sea that boat?"
"There's a war boat that just past them."
"Can you go back for them?"
"No."
"We sent a helicopter out, we can confirm the boat is capsizing, people are in the water"

<Footage/audio of people clinging together in the water, crying out for help>

Eventually, they are rescued;
480 persons were on board. 268 died including 60 children.

 

[leatherhat]

We need help, we were abandoned by our captain, there's no way for us to control this boat- it's over populated- there's children on board. We are <Coordinates>. Please help.
.

Typical. People smuggler abandons rinky dink "ship" to its fate expecting Europeans to pick it up while they get away with the money.

 

[Poetic.Injustice]

well with the impending climate disaster, the future Earth is probably going to be getting alot of this sort of thing, on much larger scales

looking grim

Citizens from which countries will flee into which countries due to global warming?

 

[KonradLaw]

They need to introduce rules that allow EU vessels to pick up migrants and sail them straight into african shores, instead of being forced to ferry them to Italy or other european shore.

 

[iPaul93]

They need to introduce rules that allow EU vessels to pick up migrants and sail them straight into african shores, instead of being forced to ferry them to Italy or other european shore.

I agree.It's better than letting them die.

 

[akira28]

Citizens from which countries will flee into which countries due to global warming?

we might be climbing the Trump Northern Wall to get at that sweet sweet temperate region if people keep denying the environment can be affected by mankind.

 

[KonradLaw]

I agree.It's better than letting them die.

Yes. There should be strict rule that everyone who comes on their own gets sent back to Africa. No exceptions. This would kill the whole smuggling business. Of course it needs to be couple with west finally opening up their own camps and processing centres. But even that shouldn't result in big migration. This isn't caused by any crisis that will end in forseable future. It will just continue and with Africa's population expected to boom to over 4 billion everybody is screwed if we don't clamp down on migration now.
Africa needs a big Marshall-like plan, with investments in rising their economies and infrastructure, so they can provide good enviorement for people on site.

And we shouldn't also be stealing talented people to boost our own economies. Get them here, give them skills and educations and then send them back to improve the situations at homes. Long term west will benefit from all of that too, because rich stable african countries = new market for our western crap.

 

[Any Questions]

This is terrible. Terrible. I almost didn't click onto this thread as I didn't want to depress myself. What I have read is basically that the Italian navy is responsible for the death of all those people. Am not sure how I feel about this

 

[Mivey]

Reminds me how our foreign minister criticized efforts to save refugees from the mediterranean. Seems like people are listening to him.