The world has been watching agape this week at the Titanic sub disappearance and implosion resulting in five lost lives.
Whilst no one can deny the horrendous tragedy that occurred in the most dreadful of circumstances, for many of us, it raises more questions around hypocrisy of international media attention and the mega-scale global cooperation to rescue less than a handful of super-rich extreme-tourists, while refugees in their thousands are lost in our seas from overflowing boats as they flee oppression, torture and war.
Yes, it did sadden me that a 19 year old student was among those lost, who is reported to have only gone along to please his Dad on Father’s Day. But that it was even possible to pay £250,000 per head in an exclusive uncertified submersive exploration of the Titanic wreckage leaves me frozen with rage. Not to mention the millions of dollars spent on rescue. This is the scale of inequality in the world we live in.
The Guardian reported this week that a Dutch campaign group lists 34,361 migrant deaths in Europe over the past 25 years, as official records are patchy. Of course, these stats account not just for drownings, but deaths in asylum centres and elsewhere. The point is that these tragic losses occurred because displaced people sought safety. So, it is right to be angry at those who chose to put themselves in danger for an expensive adventure thrill, and to those who facilitated this flawed venture, costing not just human lives but unprecedented levels of rescue resources.
The UK government’s horrific push back policy and cruel Rwanda deportation is under challenge by PCS union, Care for Calais and others. There are refugee support groups around the country. But many are massively under-resourced, and many more find themselves not only positively supporting refugees but countering the far right protesting at asylum hotels and stoking up lies and fear in communities of the “others” amongst us. For me, the “others” amongst us are the super-rich who assume that with money you are invincible and can do what ever you want and without consequences. This week adding the five lost lives to the roll call has brought sharply into focus that another world must surely be possible.
We are all Rosa's daughters... 