海角大神

For migrants fleeing war, a perilous Mediterranean passage to Europe

Egypt has seen a ten-fold increase in illegal boat crossings as migrants avoid Libya and other transit points to Europe. Cyprus said Thursday it had received a distress signal from a fishing boat carrying hundreds of Syrians off its coast. 

Ahmed sold everything he owned to buy his $2,000 ticket聽鈥� passage on a smuggler鈥檚 ship聽to a new life in Europe.聽But聽he was arrested before the boat even left Egypt鈥檚 northern shore,聽and that鈥檚 what saved his life.

Confined to聽a cramped Alexandria police station, the young Palestinian's loss extends聽far聽beyond his physical possessions. Not one聽among聽the 27聽members聽of his extended family聽who left Egypt聽aboard a聽rickety fishing vessel聽Sept. 6 is thought to have survived the sinking of their ship聽four days later in which nearly 500 drowned.聽

Anguished, Ahmed awaits confirmation of his relatives鈥� fate. One of his brothers left a seven-year-old son in his care聽before boarding the ill-fated boat. 鈥淲hat can I tell him when he asks?鈥� he asks. 聽

The tragedy has highlighted Egypt鈥檚 growing popularity聽among refugees from Syria, Gaza, Eritrea and Ethiopia聽as聽a transit station en route聽to so-called 鈥淔ortress Europe.鈥� It also raises questions聽about聽the Egyptian authorities鈥� ability and willingness to crack down on a lucrative聽and notoriously dangerous illegal聽practice,聽which can net the smugglers聽over a million dollars per trip.

On Thursday, Cyprus said a fishing boat carrying hundreds of women and children, apparently from Syria, had issued a distress call. The boat was caught in rough seas off the west coast of Cyprus, an EU member state.

According to European Union figures, over 98,000 people had crossed聽illegally聽from the Mediterranean into Italy and Malta by mid-August of this year, more than double the number for the whole of 2013. This only covers entries that are detected. 聽聽

Ahmed鈥檚 family聽members聽were among up to 500 migrants, most escaping war-ravaged Gaza, who聽were seemingly murdered when聽traffickers聽rammed their vessel near the coast of Malta.聽Survivors say a fight had broken out after the passengers refused to board a new boat they deemed unseaworthy. 聽

Hundreds of other families are now playing a torturous waiting game, praying to hear that their relatives made it to shore.聽Only a dozen people are known to have survived. Most remain in Malta.

Peak demand for passage

Researchers in Egypt say they are recording an average of six boat trips a day from northern Mediterranean ports including Alexandria and Damietta. That is an approximately 10-fold increase over last year, it聽was three to five trips a week.聽

They attribute the increase to the growing dangers of other migration routes, particularly war-torn Libya.聽Across North Africa,聽the聽demand聽for passage to Europe聽peaks between late September and early October, before the聽Mediterranean聽become too choppy for a safe voyage.

In Egypt,聽refugees from surrounding countries聽face an uphill struggle to survive. The cost of living has risen steadily against a backdrop of聽Egypt鈥檚 internal聽political turmoil. Many experience xenophobia or racism, too.

"Egypt is so difficult," says Alaa, who fled Damascus for Alexandria聽in January 2012. "I could study in Syria, but here I must work all the time to just get by. We get money from the UNHCR, but it is not enough."

Worn down by the toil, Alaa's brother-in-law聽Mohamed boarded the now-notorious fishing boat on Sept. 6.聽She now spends her evenings scouring Facebook for news of his whereabouts.聽"How can I believe this?" she asks, her voice shaking. "Maybe his heart is still beating."聽

Two days later, she finally got the call. Mohamed is alive.聽

Profits for smugglers

For the smugglers, increased business means tidy profits. A single ticket costs around聽$2,000, and hundreds of passengers are usually packed onto a single small boat.

For the migrants, however, the upsurge in demand has meant a police crackdown聽on unregistered migrants.聽More than 6,800 migrants have been detained in Egypt since the start of last year, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

Over the past month, the rate of detentions has spiked, with at least 50 arrests recorded a day. Busts often take place as migrants are preparing to set sail.

"We were packed into small boats when the army appeared on the horizon," says Karim, a Palestinian who, like Ahmed, was arrested before he could board the ill-fated boat.聽鈥淓veryone ran in different directions.鈥�

Speaking by phone from a police station in the coastal town of Gamasaa, Karim聽now says his god was looking kindly on him that day. 鈥淚 thought I was unlucky because of everything that happened to me before, but now I feel that I'm blessed with this prison,鈥� he says.

For their part, the Egyptian authorities say the arrests are part of a no-nonsense approach to criminality. 鈥淭hose who attempt to illegally immigrate to Europe through the north coast are all criminals threatening the national security,鈥� says Ayman Helmy, a deputy spokesman for the interior ministry.

A watery grave

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), almost 3,000 migrants have drowned as they crossed the Mediterranean this year, as compared聽with聽700 in 2013. Shipwrecks are reported almost daily. The Italian coast guard, which is at the forefront of Europe's efforts to secure its maritime borders, has found聽corpses with stab wounds aboard intercepted ships. Some have been asphyxiated after being packed too close to the engine.聽

Survivors from the Egyptian ship told the IOM that their smugglers had laughed as they watched the boat sink to its watery grave. Muhammad Kashef, an Alexandria-based migration researcher for EIPR, says the security services will struggle to bring聽a聽multi-million dollar聽human trafficking industry聽under control.聽

鈥淭he Egyptian government can't handle this. They use old technology to track boats, they don鈥檛 have the manpower to stop smuggling, and they don鈥檛 have room to process the large number of migrants they arrest.鈥�

Egypt's Interior Ministry says the tragedy was the work of a 鈥渕afia,鈥� but has given no indication over its plans to end the practice.

Some smugglers even say they alert the police to their schedules since sporadic raids are a small price to pay for the continuation of business. 鈥淭hey leave knowing they will be caught and then released,鈥� says Mr. Kashef. Egypt鈥檚 Interior Ministry did not respond for comment on the allegation.

Back in the Alexandria police station, Ahmed鈥檚 grief is laced with anger at the smugglers. 鈥淐ons and murderers, that鈥檚 what they are,鈥� he says. 鈥淎ll I wanted was a better life for my children鈥� but it was not safe.鈥�

Additional reporting by Mohamed Ezz