Yesterday through the active neglect of Greek and European authorities at least 79 people died and hundreds more are missing, very likely dead. Later that day the Hellenic Coastguard tried to wash their hands by making a statement that assistance was refused by the people on the boat.
We could imagine why people would refuse your help, but that simply does not matter at all. A boat in distress, highly overcrowded, without a driver was in the middle of the sea. You knew it for hours and did nothing. You are the Coast Guard. This is supposed to be your job.
Now it seems that the ship capsized while the Coast Guard towed it. To be clear, to tow a boat like this puts lives at risk. And you have all the resources to carry out a proper rescue. One of your biggest, most equipped rescue vessels was just a few nautical miles away and was never asked to assist.
Today we are here because of what happened yesterday, but also what happens every day, the countless other shipwrecks, pushbacks and deaths at sea. We are here, because this was neither an accident nor a one time incident. It is part of a pattern of structural violence perpetrated against migrants on a local, national and international level, as a result of the European migration policy. Europe gives the orders, Greece pulls the trigger, and you, Coast Guard, have the blood on your hands.
They died because of what you do. Every pushback that you plan and execute is attempted murder.
You are guilty not only of the deaths that you actively perpertrate by beating up and drowning people, but also of all the lifes that are lost in the sea because people are so scared of your deadly violence that they take more dangerous routes just to avoid you.
And to those of you who refuse to do the dirty work, but sit behind your desks and remain silent: You are complicit. You are guilty too.
You can wash the blood off your uniforms, but you can not wash it from your conscience. And we hope it makes you suffer. We hope you can not sleep at night. We hope you can not enjoy a day at the sea without remembering every dead body that you dropped in there. We hope you can not look at yourself in the mirror without being haunted by all the faces of the people whose lives you took.