Three victims of the shipwreck reported off Lampedusa on October 3, 2013, in which 368 people died, have been identified. It is the first result of a quick visit taken by members of the October 3 Committee set up after the tragedy and by the forensic pathologists from the LABANOF Anthropological and Odontological Lab of Milan's State University to the Dutch city of Utrecht.

Two young Eritrean brothers played a key role in the process leading up to the identification, tracking down the Eritrean nationals living in the Netherlands who lost children and siblings in the shipwreck 12 years ago. They also provided an apartment in a council house in Utrecht where the victims' family members could meet with the team and where DNA samples could be collected to ID the victims. One of the brothers lives and works in Germany, while the other has found employment in an Italian bar and restaurant in Utrecht.

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Relatives moved by identification

Relatives cried when they recognized their dear ones among dozens of photos in the album of victims of the 2013 shipwreck off Lampedusa. The pictures shown to family members by LUBANOF's doctors included photos of a 16-year-old boy, Orthodox priest Derar Gaim Gebremedhin and Yohans Fishaion, a 20-year-old student. All three were Eritrean nationals.

They were identified by the teen's father and by the siblings of the priest and the 20-year-old man who showed up with nine other family members to go through DNA sample proceedings in search of their dear ones.

"My son was about 15 when he left Eritrea", said the parent, who lives in Rotterdam. "The last time I saw him was in 2007 because, at the time, I had been recruited as a soldier. He left Eritrea with some friends to go to Ethiopia, they were the ones who told me my son was on that boat."

The saliva swab for DNA collection will be immediately cross-checked with that of the victim, identified as his son. The test's result will allow the man to know where his son is buried. The same process will be followed in the other two cases in which victims were recognized among those portrayed in the photos.

"The last time I saw my brother was in 2010; he left Eritrea in 2012. He wanted to reach Europe", said the Orthodox priest's brother.

"I don't know when he left. They told us he died with many people. Seeing the photos of the bodies was hard, but I was lucky, at least we will have a grave to cry on", he said.

Yohans Fishaion, instead, wanted to reach Europe to start a new life. "He didn't have a precise country in mind, he just wanted to reach Europe", noted his brother, who travelled to Utrecht with his daughter and niece, who is just a few months old.

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October 3rd Committee calls for European DNA data bank

"Each identification shows that we are dealing with a technical problem, a void in the system. Without harmonized procedures, we are continuing to produce victims without a name and families without answers. Italy and the European Union must take the responsibility of building a joint identification system and a European DNA data bank, because the right to an identity cannot stop at the border," said Tareke Bhrane, president of the October 3 Committee created after the 2013 shipwreck.

"Giving back a name to the dead means reaffirming a legal principle", it is "not a gesture of compassion", commented Bhrane.

In mid-December last year, the 3 October Committee and LABANOF coordinated the exhumation of one of the bodies of the shipwreck's victims at the cemetery of Bompensiere, near the Sicilian city of Caltanissetta, so that they could be identified.

The procedure proves that shipwreck victims can be identified if specific procedures support the process, carried out with scientific rigour, with the support of families, organizers said.

The 3 October Committee also announced new field trips in Europe and Africa, also in cooperation with LABANOF, to meet with family members who are still searching for their dear ones who went missing during migrant crossings, as occurred recently in the Netherlands.

LABANOF's doctors spoke to the victims' family members, asking to provide them with their physical details, before collecting saliva swabs to check if their DNA matches, and showed them the photos of the victims that still needed to be identified.

"Restoring identity is a complex process, which combines the collection of information before death, working directly with relatives, scientific tests and cross-checking data", explained Bhrane.

"Knowing who is buried and where is the bare minimum to allow families to leave behind uncertainty and exercise their right to mourn."

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