http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/the-mediterranean-sea--a-mass-grave_the-struggle-to-identify-drowned-migrants/42238266?ns_mchannel=rss&srg_evsource=rss
THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA: A MASS GRAVE
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The struggle to identify drowned migrants
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By Stefania Summermatter
JUN 20, 2016 - 11:00
Three years after the migrant boat tragedy in Lampedusa, in which 366
people drowned, relatives are still trying to identify dead bodies to
conduct a dignified burial. It’s a difficult but important process
which is being supported by the Swiss Red Cross.
“We told them several times that they shouldn’t set out, but they
didn’t listen. One day they got into a boat heading for Europe. We
haven’t heard from them since,” says Bila Bila Barre from Somalia,
recounting the story of her two nephews Hussene (20) und Maxamud (19).
They wanted to travel to Italy via Libya.
Barre is certain that the young men perished with other migrants in
the terrible shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa on October 3, 2015,
in which at least 366 people died. Ironically, it was one of the few
refugee tragedies in which most of the dead were recovered.
“The dates coincide, even if none of the 155 survivors can confirm
they saw the two on board. But as long as we haven’t seen any bodies
there’s still doubt. Are they being held somewhere? Were they killed
by criminal gangs specialising in the trafficking of human organs? You
hear so many stories,” says Barre, who arrived in Switzerland as a
refugee in the 1990s and now holds Swiss citizenship.
At the request of her sister, she contacted the Swiss Red Cross to try
to find the two young men, or at least their remains. The Swiss Red
Cross receives requests on a daily basis from families who have been
separated by conflict or exile. It helped convince other Red Cross
Societies to register migrants missing at sea.
It’s a first step towards identifying people who have died in the
Mediterranean. According to the UN refugee agency (known as the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR), that
number has risen to more than 10,000 since 2014.
Italy took a further important step following the 2015 Lampedusa
tragedies, but without European Union support. At the Labanof
laboratory in the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of
Milan, the victims' post-mortem data, such as DNA samples, is
analysed. In addition, so-called “Ante-mortem data” are collected –
everything from personal belonging and photographs to scars or
tattoos.
Such information can help with the identification of victims, explains
Vittorio Piscitelli, who has been the Italian government’s Special
Commissioner for Missing Persons since December 2013.
Searching for a name
With the support of the Swiss Red Cross, last autumn Barre travelled
to Milan hoping to identify her nephews. Other family members who live
in Switzerland came as well to search for information about three
additional migrants who went missing at sea.
“At the Labanof lab, they showed me an album with photos of the bodies
which they had found in the sea. I had taken a recent photo of my
nephews and I tried to look for similarities with the bodies which had
been deformed by the water. But it was so difficult . . .”
Using photos is often the only option for identifying the bodies. For
DNA tests to be reliable, there needs to be a direct family link,
between parents and children or between brothers and sisters, for
example. But sometimes victims’ families still live in conflict-ridden
countries like Syria or Eritrea, and cannot request help from their
governments or even leave the country.
Thus, despite huge efforts from various organisations helping migrants
as well as the Italian authorities, many victims who drowned at
Lampedusa have been buried in Sicily. A simple ID number is placed on
their coffin. More than eight months after her trip to Milan, Barre is
still awaiting a reply from the laboratory.
Proper mourning
Nicole Windlin is responsible for the Swiss Red Cross tracing service.
She is convinced of the importance of identifying victims of
shipwrecks. The aim is not just to give dignity back to the dead but
also to those still living.
“To mourn properly, it’s essential that people can be sure that the
person has actually died,” she explains. “Finding a body makes it
possible to have a proper burial, according to the rites of each
culture.”
There is also a legal and administrative aspect, she adds: “For
widows, orphans and parents, when there is no document confirming the
death, many questions cannot be answered. For example, a partner
cannot remarry or inherit the assets of the missing person.”
According to Nicole Windlin, even 20 years after the conflict in the
former Yugoslavia around 100 people in Switzerland are still hoping to
find the bodies of their loved ones.
However, the case of people who drown in the Mediterranean is much
more complex, she adds: “In Bosnia some families were able to remember
what their relatives were wearing on the day they disappeared.
Migrants, however, are often on the road for months, even years, and
the only information we get are photos published on social media,
posed pictures. That’s why it’s harder to recognise people.” In
addition, there is no European database that catalogues migrants who
have disappeared at sea.
A big challenge
With the arrival of spring, the number of boats packed with people
leaving Libya for Italy has increased – as well as the number of boats
sinking. According to UNHCR, from the beginning of 2016 on average
15.8 people have died every day crossing the Mediterranean. Most
bodies are recovered months later.
Another boat tragedy that occurred on April 18, 2015, is a good
example of the challenges. An estimated 700 refugees are thought to
have died on that ship. Until now, the Italian navy has only managed
to find 169 bodies located near the shipwreck. It is estimated that
200-400 skeletons are still trapped in the sunken hull, says
Piscitelli. Attempts to raise the wreckage started recently – more
than a year after the accident.
Piscitelli is frank. “The EU is afraid of the management of the
migration phenomenon and of the bodies fished from the sea. It has
left Italy with the responsibility of financing and managing the
identification programme. It has turned its back on us.”
A flood tide of refugees
The total number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide
rose to a record 65.3 million at the end of 2015, UNHCR said Monday.
On average, 34,000 people a day were displaced last year, marking a
50% increase just since the Syria war began in 2011. More than one
million people fled to Europe last year, wreaking political havoc in
the European Union.
You can contact the author on Twitter at _at_stesummi
What should be done to prevent these tragedies in the Mediterranean?
Give us your view in the comments below.
Translated by Simon Bradley
Received on Mon Jun 20 2016 - 13:40:12 EDT