La Voz de Galicia – August 30, 2024 →
In Sicily, as everywhere else, there are shipwrecks and shipwrecks. There are shipwrecks in which, unintentionally (since we are not the ones creating the news), we know the names of those who perished, their stories, why they were there at that moment, and which family members survived them. And then there are shipwrecks where all we know are numbers: number of dead, number of survivors, number of minors, babies, women, men… In those cases, we don’t know the names of the people who perished, we have no idea about their stories, or what led them to that boat at that moment, nor which family members survived them. There are shipwrecks with names and surnames, and there are invisible shipwrecks, so invisible that we don’t even know the real number of migrants who die every day trying to reach the coasts of Sicily (or the coasts of the Canary Islands).
This week, upon seeing the coverage of the tragic fate that awaited Mike Lynch, the English magnate who, to celebrate the end of a long legal battle, chose the luxury yacht “Bayesian” to spend a few days with his loved ones and close friends, I found myself reflecting on the complex world we live in. The wreck of the “Bayesian” is a shipwreck with names and surnames; the media tells us the stories of the seven victims and the reasons that brought them there. And now we are also told that three crew members are being investigated to determine the causes of the shipwreck, to find those responsible. And just as there are shipwrecks and shipwrecks, there are also culprits and culprits. And I simply wish to live in a world where those responsible for the other shipwrecks, the invisible shipwrecks, are also held accountable for the thousands of lives the sea claims each day because of them.
