Migrants Are Stranded on a U.S. Warship With Nowhere to Go
Source: The Daily Beast
A U.S. Navy warship did the right thing. It saved the lives of dozens of people drowning off the coast of Libya. But what does it do with these people who have suffered so much?
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU
06.14.18 5:32 AM ET
ROME—There is a perfect Italian word for the situation the American warship USNS Trenton finds itself in right now. Intrappolata. It means trapped, entangled and ensnared in a situation that is is going to prove very tricky to get out of.
On Tuesday, the Trenton, a Spearhead-class high-speed transport that is part of ongoing 6th Fleet military operations off the coast of Libya, came upon a migrant boat in distress and disintegrating. People were in the water. Several corpses were already floating. The Trenton called for help and, along with the German non-governmental organization Sea Watch, whose ship was patrolling nearby, the American crew carried out the rescue of 40 African migrants and recovered 12 corpses. The living and the dead were all on the American ship for days. But the Trenton did not have adequate refrigeration to store the mostly anonymous bodies. Finally, it buried them at sea.
“On June 12, 2018 USNS Trenton, in accordance with its obligations under international law, rendered assistance to mariners in distress that it encountered while conducting routine operations in the Mediterranean Sea,” the Sixth Fleet said in a statement. “Forty people have been recovered and are being provided food, water, and medical care on board Trenton. U.S. authorities are coordinating with our international partners to determine their ultimate disposition.”
A better word than “coordinating” would be “negotiating,” because right now political and diplomatic confusion reigns over the lives of people trying to make the incredibly dangerous voyage from North Africa to southern Europe. Thousands die each year gambling they can make it across the Med one way or another. Many go to sea in hugely overcrowded rubber boats that have no prayer of traveling all the way to the shores of Italy. They — or the smugglers they have paid — are betting that they will be picked out of the water before they drown. And that’s a bet that many lose.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/migrants-are-stranded-on-a-us-warship-with-nowhere-to-go?ref=home
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