Human rights advocates express frustration, saying missing submersible overshadows deadly shipwreck
As the U.S. Navy, Canadian Coast Guard, OceanGate Expeditions and several others desperately searched for the five-passenger submersible that disappeared during a survey of the Titanic wreckage, a catastrophic shipwreck that presumably left hundreds dead has been neglected, according to human rights advocates.
Just days before the 22-foot OceanGate submersible vanished, a fishing boat full of an estimated 750 migrants headed for Italy sank off the coast of Greece, killing at least 79 migrants and leaving hundreds more missing, as reported by the Deseret News.
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Boat full of migrants sinks off coast of Greece, 79 dead and hundreds missing
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Protests broke out across Greece against authorities’ handling of the shipwreck and the European Union’s migration policies. Thousands of demonstrators criticized Greek authorities for not acting to rescue the missing migrants, reports Al Jazeera. Greek officials claim that passengers refused assistance and were determined to get to Italy.
“We are witnessing one of the biggest tragedies in the Mediterranean, and the numbers announced by the authorities are devastating,” said Gianluca Rocco, head of the Greek section of International Organization for Migration, the United Nations migration agency, per NPR.
Several human rights advocates expressed frustration due to their belief that the Greek shipwreck received limited media attention and rescue efforts and that greater resources and news headlines were given to the Titan.
“It’s a horrifying and disgusting contrast,” Judith Sunderland, associate director for Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division, said in a telephone interview with NBC News.
“The willingness to allow certain people to die while every effort is made to save others ... it’s a, you know, really dark reflection on humanity,” said Sunderland.
She added that she is “not surprised” by the rescue and media efforts devoted to the submersible rescue mission because the focus is on “very wealthy people” potentially “dying on a vanity trip, you know, that’s a ‘good story,’” said Sunderland.
Josie Naughton, co-founder and CEO of Choose Love — a U.K.-based nongovernmental organization supporting refugees around the world — echoed Sunderland’s concerns.
Naughton claims she has seen thousands more articles about the missing submersible than the migrant boat, “yet, it’s 100 times as many people who are feared to have lost their lives and these people, they were forced to flee their homes, they were looking for safety,” Naughton told NBC News.
“Whilst of course we hope so much that the people on board get brought to safety, it does kind of make you question, what’s the difference in terms of how the media is covering it but also in terms of how, you know, the governments and government infrastructure responds,” Naughton added. “Why is it so different?”
Artist Oliver Jeffers shared his opinion via Instagram on Tuesday, which marked World Refugee Day.
“While we are glued to the news about 5 mostly wealthy tourists lost on a submarine on their way to seek the wreckage of a sunken ship, today is World Refugee Day, and only last week a boat holding hundreds of refugees sank off the coast of Greece,” said Jeffers’ post, accompanied with a cartoon.
Hundreds missing in Greece shipwreck
At least 78 bodies have been recovered after the migrant-filled ship capsized last week and rescuers have saved 104 passengers — including Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, Afghans and Palestinians, reports NPR.
Authorities believe hundreds of others may have been trapped below deck. If that is confirmed, this shipwreck would be one of the worst ever recorded in the Mediterranean.
“We don’t have all information yet on what has happened but it seems like this is the worst ever tragedy we’ve seen in the Mediterranean,” EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson told a press conference in Brussels on Friday, per CNN.
Passengers of the Titan submersible are presumed dead
The five passengers who were in the missing Titan submersible are presumed dead, OceanGate Expeditions stated Thursday.
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” OceanGate said in a statement on Thursday, per CNN.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
The U.S. Coast Guard found debris from the Titan near the Titanic wreckage site that is consistent with an implosion.
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