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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon May 09 2011 - 10:42:37 EDT
NATO says investigating report of migrant deaths
Mon May 9, 2011 11:08am GMT
* Report says only 10 of 72 on boat survived
* Report says alarm raised but no help came
BRUSSELS, May 9 (Reuters) - NATO said on Monday it was investigating a
newspaper report that alliance units failed to help a drifting boat carrying
African migrants from Libya, leading to the deaths of 62 people from thirst
and hunger.
Britain's Guardian said that the boat carrying 72 people, including several
women, young children and political refugees, ran into trouble after leaving
Tripoli for the Italian island of Lampedusa on March 25.
It said that despite the alarm being raised with the Italian coastguard and
the boat making contact with a military helicopter and a NATO warship, no
rescue effort was attempted.
All but 10 of those who had been on board died after their vessel was left
to drift in open waters for 16 days, the report said.
"We are looking into the allegations of the Guardian. I hope to have a
reaction soon," NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said. "NATO vessels are fully
aware of their responsibilities with regard to international maritime law on
safety of lives at sea."
The Guardian report quoted survivors and other people who were in contact
with passengers on the vessel. It said those aboard included 47 Ethiopians,
seven Nigerians, seven Eritreans, six Ghanaians and five Sudanese. Twenty
were women and two were small children, one of whom was one year old.
The report said the vessel's Ghanaian captain was aiming for Lampedusa, 180
miles (290 km) northwest of Tripoli, but after 18 hours it began running
into trouble and losing fuel.
The migrants used a satellite phone to call Father Moses Zerai, an Eritrean
priest in Rome who runs a refugee rights organisation Habeshia. He contacted
the Italian coastguard.
REPORT: BOAT SPOTTED, NO HELP CAME
The Guardian said the boat's location was narrowed down to about 60 miles
(97 km) off Tripoli, and the coastguard assured Zerai the alarm had been
raised.
The newspaper said a military helicopter marked with the word "army" soon
appeared above the boat. The pilots, who were wearing military uniforms,
lowered bottles of water and packets of biscuits and gestured to passengers
that they should hold their position until a rescue boat came to help.
The helicopter flew off, but no rescue boat arrived.
The Guardian said that on March 29 or 30, the boat drifted near to a NATO
aircraft carrier, and according to survivors, two jets took off from the
ship and flew low over the boat while migrants stood on deck holding the two
babies aloft.
However, the newspaper said, "from that point on, no help was forthcoming"
and one by one the migrants began dying of thirst and starvation.
Dozens of immigrants from north Africa have died in their attempt to reach
Italian shores. On April 6, a boat carrying 200 people sank south of Sicily.
In that case, Italian rescue ships answered a distress signal and managed to
save 50 people in Maltese waters.
The report said that when on April 10, the boat washed up on a beach near
the Libyan town of Zlitan near Misrata, only 11 people aboard were still
alive, and one of those died almost immediately on reaching land.
The Guardian said it had concluded after extensive inquiries that the
aircraft carrier was likely to have been France's Charles de Gaulle, which
was operating in the Mediterranean.
The Charles de Gaulle has been taking part in the international operation
off Libya, but is not under NATO command. Romero said the only aircraft
carrier that has taken part in NATO's Libya operation is Italian.
Romero said that on the night of March 26-27, several NATO units were
involved in rescuing more than 500 people from two vessels carrying migrants
in incidents in an area about 15 nautical miles (28 km) north-northeast of
Tripoli.
"The people rescued were transferred to Lampedusa with the assistance of the
Italian authorities," she said. (editing by David Stamp)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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