Twenty-three unadorned brown boxes carrying twenty-three unnamed and unidentified bodies. One unadorned white box carrying someone’s child lay among the rest. “Box number …” written in black marker was the only element that distinguished one box from the other.
Earlier today, twenty-four unidentified human beings were put to rest. A white tent filled with twenty-four caskets, flowers that adorned the tent and Malta’s officials who paid their respects dominates today’s news.
I have a dream, that to become a teacher.
She dreams that one day she will travel the world.
He dreams that he will own a race car.
You dream that one day you will win the lottery.
We study hard for our dream job.
They dream that one day they can become politicians.
We all dream a dream. While some dreams will remain dreams, others will become a reality. The hundreds of migrants who attempted to cross the Mediterranean left their war-torn or poverty stricken nests in search of a better life. They wanted to come to a better place. They wanted to wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night without fear of death hanging over their heads. They had a dream which they did not want to remain a dream — they wanted to make it a reality. They had nothing left to lose and hence trusted their lives to human traffickers who put them on a boat to transport them to Europe. The boat that was frail before they even set sail, already starting to reduce their chances of making it across safely. When their fears became a reality and the boat capsized, the Mediterranean took away their last glimmer of hope.
While you sit comfortably reading this, spare a minute to think of the fear and helplessness these people felt while battling for their lives with nothing to hold on to. Think of the children screaming for their mothers but their mothers had no resources to save them.
While Malta bury the unnamed, European officials gather to talk. When will the politicians, those same people we elect to represent us and our values, realise that actions speak louder than words? Words can do little for the migrants who lost their lives at sea. However, actions can do a lot to safeguard the others that might decide to attempt the journey.
A minute of silence as a sign of respect will do little as well. These victims need action and help which they are not able to give to each other. While tragedy unfolds at our doorstep, politicians are still trying to decide what priority human lives should be given.
The death toll of migrants who lost their life at sea in the first four months of 2015, now totals to 1,500.
Rest in Peace to the souls who spent their last moments of their life struggling for life and started their afterlife drifting towards the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.
