Alone on the boats

Unaccompanied minor immigrants arriving on the Italian shores

Chapter 4 –  The Central Mediterranean route

The greatest danger comes from the sea. The last phase of the journey of the many young immigrants fleeing from their countries is also the most dangerous. Of the 25.800 kids and adolescents who left the African coast in 2016 to cross the Mediterranean Sea, about 700 never landed to the other side. Among those who survived, some left by themselves, some remained orphans on the way through Africa, and others lost their parents on the boats. There are three main routes that cross the Mediterranean Sea: the Western, from Morocco and Tunisia towards Spain; the Central, beginning in Libya and Egypt and ending in Italy; and the Eastern, which from Turkey and Egypt brings the migrants to Greece. Our focus is on the second: the Central Mediterranean route.

This route has Italy as its final destination, while boats depart from Tripoli, Zuwara, and Sabratha, in Libya, and from Alexandria, in Egypt. Of all the crossing routes, this one is by far the most deadly, with 90% of the total casualties happening here: we are speaking of 4.579 people perished only last year. This route is also much longer than the other two, reaching a maximum distance of 1.500km between Alexandria and Reggio Calabria, while the distance between Tripoli and Lampedusa is about 300km. This is, of course, part of the reason why this path is so deadly.

The Central Mediterranean route was by far the most used in 2011 when the Arab Spring began. Only in that year, about 23.000 Tunisians arrived in Lampedusa, seeking employment in France or other European countries. Also, between March and August 2011, 40.000 refugees arrived on the small Italian island from Libya, escaping the Gaddafi regime. In 2012, the route was almost abandoned after the collapse of the Libyan regime. However, it didn’t take too long for the smugglers to reorganize and, by 2013, the Central Mediterranean route became the most popular among Western African immigrants as well as Syrians refugees. Only in 2015, the immigrants’ numbers dropped again because of the shift of Syrians to the Eastern Mediterranean route.

The Libyan smugglers faced a shortage of boats in the last part of 2016, which led them to employ small rubber dinghies, carrying up to 130 people, or the so-called double-deckers, dismissed fishing boats with around 700 people clustered inside on the two levels. These vessels are usually very old, overloaded, with insufficient fuel to reach Italy, and with no safety systems on board, which further increase the chances of a shipwreck. Smugglers trying to enter Apulia, on the other hand, usually use ocean-going pleasure yachts, with migrants hidden below the deck. Immigrants have to stay hidden, in dangerously crowded conditions, with scarce ventilation, while only a small crew is visible from the outside, sometimes accompanied by women to avoid suspicion. Finally, smugglers from Egypt often employ a larger mothership, accompanied by a few fishing boats. Migrants stay on the mothership until they get close to the Italian shores. Afterwards, they are transferred to the fishing boats, while the smugglers go back to Egypt with the mothership to avoid the risk of being arrested by the Italian authorities.

After being saved, migrants testify about the human trafficking surrounding the Mediterranean route and their stories are shocking. Many say they would have never got on board if they only knew what they were undertaking. Many feel the need to warn their family and friends still in Libya to stay away from the sea. As they reported, human trafficking in Libya is getting much more dangerous because smugglers are becoming more and more indifferent to the lives of the migrants, as the demand for places on the boats continues to grow. They claim they have been told huge lies about the difficulties of the crossing and the conditions of the boats. Smugglers often promise migrants to embark them on boats carrying one or two hundred people maximum, but then they take others on board at different stops or are transferred to bigger and overcrowded ships. Furthermore, migrants are made to believe that the hundreds of dollars given to the smugglers are paid for a place in a new and well-equipped boat, not one already full of leaks. They are even lied about the length of the trip. It is disturbing to see how immigrants underestimate the distance between Libya and Italy. In fact, they are told that the trip would last only a few hours and, when they get rescued after 8/9 hours in the sea, they believe to be already very close to Italy. In reality, the rescues on average are made just out of Tripoli. Often the boats are not even equipped nor have enough power in their engines to actually reach Italy.

The moment of the rescue is among the most dramatic. The boats are often already sinking or close to do so and the people on board, including women and children, are being under the sun for hours, without any protection or water. Many of them are dehydrated, exhausted, and under tremendous shock. Especially if there have been losses during the trip or if the ship is about to sink, the tension becomes unbearable and panic spreads. Fights break out, some migrants jump from the boats, while others try to board the rescuing ship, in a desperate attempt to save their lives. The volunteers have to raise their voices to restore the calm, “this behaviour will not be accepted. Stay calm and sit down. Every one of you will be saved. Women and kids come first”. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to save them all.