Protesters rally in Athens for justice a year after migrant boat disaster

Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Athens on Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of a shipwreck that killed hundreds of migrants off Greece, demanding answers about the causes of the disaster and the fate of relatives.

Up to 700 migrants from Pakistan, Syria, and Egypt were crammed into a fishing trawler bound for Italy from Libya. It capsized off southwestern Greece on June 14, 2023, even though the Greek coast guard had been monitoring it for hours.

Some 104 people were rescued, but only 82 bodies were recovered. The catastrophe, one of the worst Mediterranean boat disasters on record, raised searching questions about how the European Union is trying to stem flows of migrants.

Around 1,000 people, including survivors and activists, marched to parliament in Athens, the capital. They held up a banner depicting a collage of photographs of the missing.

Rallies were also planned for London, Paris, and Berlin. In the Pakistani city of Lalamousa, victims' relatives prepared a memorial ceremony.

Survivors say the Coast Guard caused the ship to capsize when it tried to tow the vessel in the early hours of the morning. Authorities say the movement of migrants on board caused the overcrowded boat to tip over.

A year on, a probe by a naval court into the coast guard's role remains at a preliminary stage, frustrating survivors, relatives, and rights groups. Greece's shipping minister has called for patience.

Pantelis Themelis, commander of Greece's Disaster Victim Identification unit, said 74 of the 82 dead had been identified. But many more families from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia have sent DNA samples to Greece for checks to no avail.

In a joint statement, the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration called for "comprehensive and conclusive" investigations into the circumstances of the shipwreck.

"A thorough investigation is essential to secure justice for the survivors and the families of the victims and to help prevent similar tragedies in the future," they said.

Reuters