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| 'Europe or death': Young people who want to reach Europe illegally risk their lives on the merciless sea |
A handful of refugees have been rescued in one of the first rescue operations in the Mediterranean after a boat capsized off the Greek coast, but they say nothing will stop them from trying to reach Europe.
The men spoke to the BBC's Alice Cuddy, who was on board the rescue ship, which patrols the sea to help migrants in distress.
As this red-and-white-painted rescue ship was sailing across a vast expanse of the Mediterranean Sea, a small dark blue boat suddenly appeared in front of it, with what appeared to be a head in the distance, meaning there were many people on board.
Aid workers from the charity SOS Mediterranean on the rescue ship are trying to reach the scene in speedboats wearing helmets and life jackets. They quickly transfer the refugees individually to these speedboats and then count them.
Most of the rescued youths are from the African country of Gambia and had so far spent 15 hours stranded at sea, 54 nautical miles from the Libyan town of Castelverde near Tripoli. The distress was evident on the faces of the rescued persons.
Some of them told me that shortly before rescue workers arrived, a fight had broken out among the people on board their overcrowded boat.
The fight took place because some wanted to continue their journey despite all the odds, while others requested them to end their journey fearing danger to their lives.
During this commotion, a refugee's phone fell into the sea.
One refugee was wearing a light blue shirt from the English football club Manchester City, and the others were holding iPhones in their hands. Few people had food and water. Most of them did not know how to swim, they had tubes used in car tires to save life, which served as a kind of life jacket.
As a Libyan Coast Guard ship appears on the horizon, the refugees' faces are filled with panic. Many of them were earlier returned to Libya by the Libyan Coast Guard. These coast guards are provided with ships, training, and funding by the EU.
A few refugees in the rescue speedboat have smiles on their faces and one of them pulls out his phone to take a selfie.
One of them told me later that when he held the rescue worker's hand, he thought, 'Now I've entered Europe.'
The group was immediately transferred to the SOS Mediterranean ship 'Ocean Viking' where they underwent a medical examination. They were given new clothes and bags containing toothbrushes.
The charity alerted the Italian authorities, who immediately requested the ship to anchor in the southern port of Bari and told it to arrive without delay.
This is done under the new law, which requires authorities to order rescue ships to anchor immediately and not search for more refugees. However, it took three days to reach here.
As we began our journey, we met some refugees who were in a medical camp on the ship. Most of them speak in English and their names have been changed.
These migrants have told us that they were not unaware of the dangers they could face during their journey to Europe. Many people say that this was not their first attempt to reach Europe, among them some people narrowly escaped death in their desire to reach Europe before, but they chose the same risky journey to go to Europe again.
"I've tried seven times," says a 17-year-old refugee.
All the refugees I spoke to said that some of their friends had died during the journey.
Some of these people have read about the news of the Yunnan boat accident on social media. The accident is being described as one of the deadliest in the history of refugee boat accidents, with an estimated 750 dead. The passengers of this boat had also left for Italy from Libya.
A refugee recounted the incident and said that the incident did not discourage him at all because he believed that other refugees would have the same thoughts as him.
He told me that this is the thought that either reaches Europe or dies in the sea. There are only two options.
It should be noted that the rescue ship received information about the rubber boat from the emergency help alarm phone for refugees in distress at sea and from the European border agency Frontex.
More than 80 percent of the people on board the boat are minor boys below the age of 18 and were not accompanied by their family members.
Most of these boys started their journey months ago when they left home with the hope of earning money and sending it back to their families.
Most of them said that they had lost one or both of their parents and that everyone in their families the eldest son, he feels that he wants to financially support his family.
The Central Mediterranean is the route for refugees that brings them to the EU countries. Frontex says that during the first five months of this year, illegal movements have doubled compared to 2022, and around 50,318 people have attempted it. This is the highest number recorded since 2017.
Feeling a bit safer after boarding the boat, the boys started talking to me.
They tried to go to Libya through different networks of smugglers and tried to come here through the North West region of Africa.
When the clothes they were traveling in were returned to them, they were overjoyed. He found his clothes in a pile of clothes and then put them in a bucket of soapy water to wash them and then put them on the ropes and taught them. These clothes are the only personal belongings of these men as they leave everything behind in Libya.
They tell us that in Libya they lived in compounds run by smugglers and then arrived there after collecting money. According to him, this trip will cost him 570 pounds.
Soma's stepfather sent him some cash and another boy says his family took out a loan to fund the trip.
One of the refugees said that I did not pay any money for this trip. So I am fortunate. I was working with this person, and I was assisting him in this respect.
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