More Refugees Are Dead Beneath The Waves of Homer's Wine Dark Sea.

On June 14th, a ship sank in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Greece. One hundred and four passengers were rescued, and seventy-eight bodies were recovered near where the ship plunged beneath water that 2000 years ago, Homer described as "wine-dark." The exact number of dead -will never be known because these weren't people who counted for much in life, except to those- who don't count for very much either. Numbers bandied about in the news claim the dead amounted to a few hundred, other tallies totalled, almost a thousand lost. It's about how many young soldiers are killed on a bad day at the front in the Russia-Ukraine war.

News organisations were quick to point out that the drowned weren't wearing life jackets, as if the dead were careless pleasure boaters.

It was not that type of cruise where safety was considered before boarding because the journey was driven by an instinct to escape more immediate dangers. This voyage was not booked online, by its passengers, from a glossy website that pictured people drinking cocktails poolside while, in the distance, a calm ocean drifted passed them.

For this trip, there was no passenger list. Few had identification because these people were sailing illicitly on an ancient fishing trawler that, in days gone by, had earned its keep harvesting seafood when the ocean was abundant with marine life.

Now it was a refugee boat operated by smugglers- much like the crafts that once brought Jewish refugees from Europe after WW2 to Palestine.

The occupants of the doomed boat didn't have berths with ensuite toilets and all-you-can-eat buffets for their dinner. There was no onboard entertainment or a casino open 24/7. They probably indebted themselves to these thieves of human souls the equivalent of 10 years' wages for the promise of landing in Europe to begin their trek towards refugee status. They were desperate people who came from countries governed by authoritarian regimes that have no social safety net, high unemployment, double-digit inflation, corruption and where the poor live and die in slums that Dickens would recognise.

For that sum, they were crammed on the deck or shoved into the holds of this vessel like cargo which is valuable but also cheaply replaceable.

The ship began its voyage in Libya. It is a country we made worse for wear when NATO pledged to turn it into a democracy after we went to war with Gadhafi. But instead-handed it over to warlords, mercenaries, and lawlessness,  but in our cynicism also built EU-funded concentration camps for human beings that have the temerity to use that nation as a crossing point into Europe looking for sanctuary.

Considering most on board, including young children, were held under lock and key below deck, their deaths from drowning would have been quick.

That was not a mercy, small or otherwise, because their end would have been as terrifying and painful as moments before being killed in a gas chamber.

In the bowels of this ship, when the engines failed, the lighting would have been doused, and the passengers plunged into darkness. They would have felt rather than seen water rushing near and then around them.

There would have been the confusing sound of people panicking in different languages, calling out for help or for a brother or friend. Then the clamour would have changed and become lamentable screams when the penny dropped to everyone that the only way out of this situation was to die.

The smell of terror and the smell of hundreds of unwashed bodies would have been one of the last things they sensed before the water overtook them. There would have been no time to say even a goodbye.

And the final indignity to their miserable short lives is that even those they loved will never know for sure; if they are alive or dead- because a refugee claimant in this 21st century must exist in the shadows until given official residency in a safe country. People who loved them will wait for years for their return to their homelands in the hope they are in England making their fortune.

Had it been a different voyage where hundreds of white middle-class holiday goers were drowned on a cruise around the Greek Isles this maritime disaster would be compared to the sinking of the Titanic. instead because it was young men from Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, countries, the West out of malevolence turned into failed states, the narrative will be about people being impatient and not attempting to emigrate through legal channels. If they had been white Ukrainian refugees who died trying to cross out of the war zone, the hand-wringing, the pledges of aid, and the commitment of politicians to ensure this type of tragedy never happened again would have been enormous. 

The dead trapped in the hull of that sunken fishing trawler will get nothing except generic bromides. All around Europe, Britain, Canada, the USA and Australia are creating more efficient ring-fences around their nations to prevent refugees manufactured from our wars or our corporations that exploit these lands from ever finding the sanctuary they deserve. The brutality in the way we treat refugees, specifically non-white refugees, should tell you; neoliberalism does not have a sincere belief in democracy or civilisation.

As always, thank you for reading my sub stack posts because I really need your help this month. Your subscriptions to Harry’s Last Stand keep the legacy of Harry Leslie Smith alive and me housed. This month is proving to be real scramble to get next months together. So if you can join with a paid subscription which is just 3.50 a month or a yearly subscription or a gift subscription. I promise the content is good, relevant and thoughtful. Take Care, John

Photo by Ameen Fahmy on Unsplash