«This massacre could have been avoided, it wasn’t right to let them die 80 meters from the shore, for us the sea is now death and sadness. Then there was the decree. They could have called it the Meloni decree, but instead it was called the Cutro decree: it’s an ugly brand that we will carry with us forever. Now I hope that Europe can do something to avoid these deaths at sea.” He has tears in his eyes, but he is very clear Gaetano Rossione of the volunteers of the Civil Protection of Isola Capo Rizzuto, while he tells, in his emergency operator uniform, in a room of the European Parliament, what he saw cursed morning of February 26, a few hours after the shipwreck of a gulet which caused the death of 94 people, including 35 children and a still unknown number of missing people.
A moment dedicated to memory organized by Lucia AnnunziataMEP elected with the Democratic Party, in which she also participated Nicola Zingarettitogether with a large delegation from Calabria, including rescuers and local administrators and some survivors. «The help arrived late. I arrived on the beach at 8.30, but everything had already happened at 4.30. I remember the first white bags, the first bodies, even that of a small child.” And he bursts into tears. Then he finds the strength to continue: «I’m sure that if Frontex had warned us earlier they could have saved at least half. They were all young: they were fleeing from their countries. They had been at sea for 5 days, with only breadsticks and tuna, malnourished, they couldn’t have the strength to swim in the very cold sea. As soon as the ambulance arrived, the first survivors hugged the engine because of the cold. In Cutro the whole population went to the beach, trying to lend a hand. We are a people who have always welcomed everyone.”
The vast majority of survivors left Italy: “It’s a sign – adds Gaetano Rossi – that in Italy there is no reception policy for these people.” The head of the Cutro survivors’ association also speaks on this point, Shiri Alidad: «They all went to France, Germany, Belgium, they have a life and a job. However, European laws for family unions are lacking. Today is Children’s Day and I would like to remember here in Brussels the 35 children lost in that massacre. Among the 11 missing was my 17-year-old cousin. He had a dream. Everyone had a dream of life, of freedom. Many were fleeing from the Taliban. I met a lady: she told me that she had to escape from Afghanistan because she was an educated woman. She had to leave by paying the traffickers because she didn’t have a passport.”