Jump to content

Ghost boat investigation: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m It's more understandable
No edit summary
Line 29: Line 29:
}}
}}


The '''ghost boat investigations''' is a project looking into a group of at least 243 refuges who disappeared in the summer of 2014.<ref name= "Owen p. ">{{harvnb|Owen|2015|p=}}</ref> None of the missing people have contacted their family members, and there are no bodies found or wreckage of any kind. One theory is that a people smuggling boat off the coast of [[Libya]], intending to sail to [[Italy]], disappeared without trace.<ref name= "Reidy p. ">{{harvnb|Reidy|2015|p=}}</ref> A lack of wreckage is highly unusual for such a large watercraft.<ref name= "Johnson p. ">{{harvnb|Johnson|2015|p=}}</ref> Reporter Eric Reidy has been investigating the case by blogging and using [[Crowdsourcing|crowd sourcing]].<ref name= "ReidyB p. ">{{harvnb|Reidy|2015b|p=}}</ref><ref name= "Campbell p. ">{{harvnb|Campbell|2015|p=}}</ref> Bobbie Johnson, a senior editor at [[Medium (website)|Medium]], took Reidy's articles and created the ghost boat project to help track the missing group of "ghost boat" refugees.<ref name= "Owen p. "/> {{As of|December 2015}}, no trace of the passengers has been found.
The '''ghost boat investigations''' are a project looking into a group of at least 243 refuges who disappeared in the summer of 2014.<ref name= "Owen p. ">{{harvnb|Owen|2015|p=}}</ref> None of the missing people have contacted their family members, and there are no bodies found or wreckage of any kind. One theory is that a people smuggling boat off the coast of [[Libya]], intending to sail to [[Italy]], disappeared without trace.<ref name= "Reidy p. ">{{harvnb|Reidy|2015|p=}}</ref> A lack of wreckage is highly unusual for such a large watercraft.<ref name= "Johnson p. ">{{harvnb|Johnson|2015|p=}}</ref> Reporter Eric Reidy has been investigating the case by blogging and using [[Crowdsourcing|crowd sourcing]].<ref name= "ReidyB p. ">{{harvnb|Reidy|2015b|p=}}</ref><ref name= "Campbell p. ">{{harvnb|Campbell|2015|p=}}</ref> Bobbie Johnson, a senior editor at [[Medium (website)|Medium]], took Reidy's articles and created the ghost boat project to help track the missing group of "ghost boat" refugees.<ref name= "Owen p. "/> {{As of|December 2015}}, no trace of the passengers has been found.


==Background==
==The boat, the smugglers, the passengers==


Each of the 243 in the group who were to leave Libya paid $1600 to get to Europe.<ref name= "Gatti Oct">{{harvnb|Gatti|2014b|p=}}</ref> Measho Tesfamariam arranged the trip and "handled communication, logistics, and payment for the big smugglers".<ref name= "ReidyC p. ">{{harvnb|Reidy|2015c|p=}}</ref> There were three other individuals who helped fill the boat: Ibrahim, Jamal el-Saoudi, and Jaber all of whom have [[Sudan|Sudanese]] passports (although Jamal is Eritrean).<ref name= "Gatti p. ">{{harvnb|Gatti|2014|p=}}</ref> Ibrahim was in charge of arranging the trip and the passengers and families' contact.<ref name= "ReidyC p. " /> Measho Tesfamariam says that the boat was due to depart from the Libyan Khums (Al-Khums) beach, but he didn't witness the departure.<ref name= "Gatti p. "/> Tesfamariam was arrested on December 2, 2014 on [[People smuggling|people-smuggling]] charges.<ref name= "ReidyC p. " /> Meanwhile, Eritrean Jamal el-Saoudi, who was the manager of the Tokhla group smuggling operation that arranged the ghost boat group's journey, lives in Libya where he is a well-connected man.<ref name= "ReidyC p. " />
The 243 people in the group who were to leave Libya paid $1600 to get to Europe.<ref name= "Gatti Oct">{{harvnb|Gatti|2014b|p=}}</ref> Measho Tesfamariam arranged the trip and "handled communication, logistics, and payment for the big smugglers".<ref name= "ReidyC p. ">{{harvnb|Reidy|2015c|p=}}</ref> There were three other individuals who helped fill the boat: Ibrahim, Jamal el-Saoudi, and Jaber, all of whom have [[Sudan|Sudanese]] passports (although Jamal is Eritrean).<ref name= "Gatti p. ">{{harvnb|Gatti|2014|p=}}</ref> Ibrahim was in charge of arranging the trip and the passengers and families' contact.<ref name= "ReidyC p. " /> Measho Tesfamariam says that the boat was due to depart from the Libyan Khums (Al-Khums) beach, but he didn't witness the departure.<ref name= "Gatti p. "/> Tesfamariam was arrested on December 2, 2014 on [[People smuggling|people-smuggling]] charges.<ref name= "ReidyC p. " /> Meanwhile, Eritrean Jamal el-Saoudi, who was the manager of the Tokhla group smuggling operation that arranged the ghost boat group's journey, lives in Libya where he is a well-connected man.<ref name= "ReidyC p. " />


Most of the passengers were [[Eritrea|Eritreans]] fleeing the highly repressive [[Military dictatorship|military regime]] that rules the country.<ref name= "Reidy p. "/><ref name= "Simon p. ">{{harvnb|Simon|2015|p=}}</ref> At the time, around 5,000 Eritreans fled the country every month.<ref name= "Simon p. "/>
Most of the passengers were [[Eritrea|Eritreans]] fleeing the highly repressive [[Military dictatorship|military regime]] that rules the country.<ref name= "Reidy p. "/><ref name= "Simon p. ">{{harvnb|Simon|2015|p=}}</ref> At the time, around 5,000 Eritreans fled the country every month.<ref name= "Simon p. "/>

Revision as of 03:35, 11 April 2024

Ghost boat disappearance
Date2014
LocationMediterranean Sea
ParticipantsGroup of 243 people
OutcomeAll missing
Missing243

The ghost boat investigations are a project looking into a group of at least 243 refuges who disappeared in the summer of 2014.[1] None of the missing people have contacted their family members, and there are no bodies found or wreckage of any kind. One theory is that a people smuggling boat off the coast of Libya, intending to sail to Italy, disappeared without trace.[2] A lack of wreckage is highly unusual for such a large watercraft.[3] Reporter Eric Reidy has been investigating the case by blogging and using crowd sourcing.[4][5] Bobbie Johnson, a senior editor at Medium, took Reidy's articles and created the ghost boat project to help track the missing group of "ghost boat" refugees.[1] As of December 2015, no trace of the passengers has been found.

Background

The 243 people in the group who were to leave Libya paid $1600 to get to Europe.[6] Measho Tesfamariam arranged the trip and "handled communication, logistics, and payment for the big smugglers".[7] There were three other individuals who helped fill the boat: Ibrahim, Jamal el-Saoudi, and Jaber, all of whom have Sudanese passports (although Jamal is Eritrean).[8] Ibrahim was in charge of arranging the trip and the passengers and families' contact.[7] Measho Tesfamariam says that the boat was due to depart from the Libyan Khums (Al-Khums) beach, but he didn't witness the departure.[8] Tesfamariam was arrested on December 2, 2014 on people-smuggling charges.[7] Meanwhile, Eritrean Jamal el-Saoudi, who was the manager of the Tokhla group smuggling operation that arranged the ghost boat group's journey, lives in Libya where he is a well-connected man.[7]

Most of the passengers were Eritreans fleeing the highly repressive military regime that rules the country.[2][9] At the time, around 5,000 Eritreans fled the country every month.[9]

Investigation

Experts say that such a large boat sinking would have left some trace.[2] “It’s really strange,” says Othman Belbeisi, who is the International Organization for Migration’s country director for Libya.[2] Refugee advocate and migration expert Fausto Melluso, with the Italian organization Arci in Sicily, said that “It is inconceivable that a boat with that many people can go missing in 2014 and nobody know about it.” Alganesh Fisseha, an Eritrean political activist who fled the country herself, is an expert on refugee issues. She said that it was the "first time she has heard of such a large group of people going missing without a trace. ... 'It is impossible that they disappeared into thin air'”[4] During the Lampedusa migrant shipwreck on October 12, 2013, more than 360 deaths were reported, with just 155 survivors. In that case, bodies were spread out over the ocean.

Eric Reidy had been working as a reporter in Tunisia when he heard that refugee activist Meron Estefanos was investigating reports surrounding the ghost boat. She was looking into a mysterious phone call to relatives of those on the ghost boat that the passengers were detained in a Tunisian prison.[10] However, further digging revealed that the phone calls turned out to be a false lead.[10]

See also

Bibliography

Notes

References