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Ships ignored refugees
10/08/2004 21:37 - (SA)
Rome - Eight ships ignored the frantic waving of would-be African immigrants aboard a flimsy boast last week before they were picked up off Sicily after 27 of them died, it was alleged on Tuesday.
"We shouted, waved with pieces of clothing and threw things into the sea - but they just carried on as if nothing had happened," one of the 72 survivors was quoted as saying by Italian media reports. "They let us die. They saw us but didn't come to our aid."
Some of the passing ships had come within a few hundred metres of the wooden vessel aboard which the West Africans were dying of thirst and exposure.
They were finally picked up on Saturday by the German freighter Zuiderdiep - but not before 27 of the would-be immigrants had died. A 28th died later of heart failure after the rescue.
Corriere della Sera newspaper said the Italian government was considering setting up refugee camps on the north African mainland in order to come to grips with the refugee numbers.
Hundreds of thousands of would-be refugees from a variety of African countries were known to be waiting in North African countries, Libya in particular, for a chance to get to Italy and a new life in the European Union. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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