Refugee NGOs criticise EU's “double standards” after Bayesian efforts

The enormous resources and global attention devoted to the Bayesian superyacht tragedy pointed to a double standard when it comes to shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, said several NGOs dedicated to assisting asylum seekers, pointing to the obstacles they regularly face when trying to save lives in the same waters.

The groups that spoke to the Guardian were quick to express their regret and condolences over the deaths of seven people after the luxury ship was hit by violent storms off the coast of Italy.

“For us, every death in the Mediterranean is one too many, no matter where the people come from or how much money they earn,” the German aid organization Sea-Eye said in a statement to the Guardian.

However, the response to the Bayes analysis revealed a shocking contrast, said the NGO, whose recent operation rescued 262 people in the Mediterranean. “Sadly, in the media, in our society and in politics, it makes a difference who is drowning. We noticed that the coverage of the situation in the Mediterranean, of tragedies or of our rescue operations in recent months has not been nearly as comprehensive as in the case of the shipwreck in Sicily in recent days,” said the organization.

The Bayesian sank to a depth of about 50 meters off Porticello. After it became known that British tech magnate Mike Lynch was among the passengers, the media around the world increased their coverage and followed every development.

Specialised cave divers were deployed, diving in alternating 12-minute shifts and supported by a remotely operated underwater vehicle. On Wednesday, Britain's Marine Accident Investigation Branch said it had dispatched four of its inspectors to the scene of the accident.

While the Bayesian received help within minutes of alerting authorities, distress calls regarding a rapidly sinking dinghy with 43 people on board in the central Mediterranean days later were consistently ignored, another German NGO, Sea-Watch, said on social media. Probably in an attempt to reduce the boat's weight and protect the four children on board, 12 people had jumped into the water near the boat and were struggling to stay afloat.

“For the Italian and European authorities, there are shipwrecks and there are shipwrecks, one with a big name, the other with a small name, one was immediately rescued, the other left to its fate,” Sea-Watch explained.

After the authorities left the people helpless on the dinghy for more than 24 hours, an NGO rescue ship arrived at the scene and was able to rescue them “just in time,” it said. “There were no rescue efforts by the authorities,” Sea-Watch said. “This is no coincidence; this is the EU's double standards.”

The NGO posted photos on social media comparing the shipwrecks. “The yacht Bayesian with white and wealthy people on board was rescued by the authorities within 20 minutes,” read the caption under the first photo.

The second image showed a rapidly emptying boat with the caption: “A rubber dinghy with 43 people on board, neither white nor wealthy, were ignored for over 24 hours and then rescued by NGOs.”

NGOs, which have at times endured lengthy court battles, increasing intimidation and threats such as gun violence for their life-saving efforts, cited the Bayesian response as an insight into the kind of response that could be launched.

“It is not wrong to intervene to rescue wealthy individuals on board yachts or tourists. What is wrong is the inconsistency in applying these rescue strategies to save migrants in distress,” says Luca Casarini, one of the founders of the non-governmental organization Mediterranea Saving Humans.

Sea-Eye explained that those trying to save the lives of asylum seekers face strikingly different conditions. “We are criminalised by European governments such as Italy and prevented from carrying out rescue operations, for example by being relocated to extremely distant ports after rescue operations or by being detained in ports.”

The NGOs' stance was apparently supported by Pope Francis, who on Wednesday strongly condemned the treatment of people crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe and called it a “grave sin” to refuse to help the ships.

“There are people who are working systematically and by all means to reject migrants,” the Pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. “And this is a grave sin if you do it with conscience and responsibility.”

According to a recent report, Italy's regular calls at distant ports for humanitarian rescue vessels resulted in rescue vessels wasting 374 days at sea last year. This burden creates additional costs for rescue vessels and actively prevents more lives from being saved.

Sea-Watch stressed that it will always support large-scale rescue operations aimed at saving lives at sea. “But we are outraged by the political hypocrisy,” a spokesperson said in a statement, referring to the more than 30,000 people who have died in the Mediterranean in the last decade. “Every day we see how people fleeing for safety are actively denied help. Life-saving measures must not depend on the color of your skin or the size of your wallet.”

For Òscar Camps of the non-governmental organization Open Arms, the events in Sicily were reminiscent of the multi-million dollar rescue effort for the five men aboard the submersible Titan, which had dived to the wreck of the Titanic.

“The resources that go into searching for a luxury ship or a yacht are not the same at all,” he said. “It's like we're responding to a lesser category of shipwreck.”

He cited the recovery of bodies as an example. “The authorities don't want you to recover the bodies because it's a lot of work for them. They have to identify them, take DNA samples and bury them,” he said. The result is that many of those who died in search of a better life ended up being left underwater, he said.

This inequality, as well as the administrative and political hurdles that rescue ships often face, have made him feel deeply uneasy. “I am ashamed to belong to this society. And to be part of a European Union that has lost the principles and values ​​on which it was founded,” he said. “This is not the kind of society I want to be part of.”