Tragedy

Report: NATO Left 61 African Refugees to Die

Reportedly neglected distress calls from the drifting vessel.

An investigation by The Guardian uncovered that on March 25, a boat carrying 72 African migrants, including many young women, children, and political refugees, departed the Libyan capital of Tripoli for the Italian island of Lampedusa, about 180 miles away. Sixty-one of them wouldn’t make it there alive. After 18 miles at sea, the boat started experiencing problems and losing fuel, so they reportedly used their satellite phone to call Father Moses Zerai, an Ethiopian priest in Rome, who in turn contacted the Italian coastguard. A military helicopter with the word “army” appeared over the boat, and lowered down bottles of water and packets of biscuits, while telling passengers a rescue boat was on the way. It never came. The boat ran out of fuel and drifted, and on March 29 or 30 was reportedly in plain sight of a NATO aircraft carrier, but they failed to assist the migrant-filled ship. On April 10, the boat washed up on a beach in the Libyan town of Zlitan near Misrata, but only 11 of the 72 people were still alive. One of those survivors died shortly after reaching land, and another died in prison when Gaddafi’s forces arrested and detained them for four days.