On International Migrants Day, the October 3rd Committee, founded following the massive shipwreck in 2013 off the coasts of Lampedusa, once again emphasized the need for an integrated system to register deaths in Italy and the rest of Europe.
Over the past decade, over 60,000 persons have lost their lives along the various routes leading to Europe, with more than 27,000 dying in the Mediterranean Sea, while thousands remain missing.
The October 3rd Committee, founded following the massive shipwreck that took place in 2013 near Lampedusa, pointed out that each number represents a human being – a sister, a brother, a daughter, a son, a mother, or a father.
The recent tragic shipwreck off the Libyan coasts on December 16 underscores the urgency to prevent victims from going unidentified, the committee said, calling for the necessity of a dedicated European database for all those who have perished in the Mediterranean.
Key points listed in the petition
Addressed to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the October 3rd Committee petition urges the European Union and its Member States to:
- Establish or implement a database for each European state to collect information on unidentified bodies and missing migrants.
- Set up at least one hub in each nation for interviewing migrants' families and recording information before their deaths.
- Designate a single European entity to oversee missing persons, cross-referencing data from different national agencies.
- Mandate the collection and sharing of data before and after the death of a migrant among European states.
Model can be extended to 27 Member States - committee president
Tareke Brhane, president of the October 3rd Committee, stressed the urgency of creating a European DNA databank and launching a cooperation project for the recognition of the right to identification for the thousands of bodies buried without a name in European cemeteries.
"Italy has a practice that can be extended to all 27 EU Member States. Our battle is to give a name and a dignified burial to the victims, for this reason, we launched a petition. The higher the number of those who will sign the petition the stronger our voice in Europe," he concluded.