Family members of the persons who had relatives on the boat that sank between Antigua and St. Kitts are calling on the authorities to release the names of the survivors.
Three families reached out to Antigua Newsroom overnight via email to ask whether their sister who was on the boat had survived the ordeal.
They want the Antiguan and St. Kitts authorities to immediately release the names of those who survived so as to put their mind at ease and give them closure.
“We are in pain” one woman said.
At least 3 dead, 13 missing after boat capsizes near St. Kitts
(Reuters) – At least three people died and 13 were missing after a boat traveling to the eastern Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis from neighboring Antigua capsized early Tuesday morning, a government news outlet said.
The boat, which capsized some 12 miles (19 km) south of St. Kitts’ Conaree village, left Antigua with 32 passengers aboard, Antigua’s government news service ABS said in a statement, with many believed to be African migrants who arrived to the island as tourists.
Hundreds of Cameroonian refugees fleeing a five-year war in the country’s eastern Anglophone region traveled to the Caribbean nation in recent months, local media reported, via charter flights which were briefly allowed from the Nigerian capital Lagos.
In February, a government minister told local media that nearly 640 of more than 900 migrants who boarded the flights remained on the island, though it was not yet clear if they would be given legal residency or deported.
In a statement on Tuesday, Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the government had been making “been making every effort to be helpful to these brothers and sisters from Africa who were marooned on Antigua, including by granting them residence and the opportunity to work.”
Browne said his government would launch an investigation into the illegal boat launch and advised Africans in Antigua and Barbuda to avoid illicit schemes and work with state immigration authorities.
He said the government would offer refuge to the survivors, arrange burials for the dead and make every effort to contact their relatives.
Of 16 people who were pulled from the water and taken to St. Kitts, ABS reported, two were Antiguan and Barbudan nationals and 14 from unidentified countries in Africa.
Colonel Telbert Benjamin of the Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force told ABS that an aircraft had been deployed to help search for the missing.
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May the good Lord have mercy on us all and provide peace & comfort to these Africans who seeking refuge
You too farse bout you want know name.
26:36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew ……remember these people is GOD’S PEOPLE AND SOME OF US CHRISTIANS SIGNING PETITION WITHOUT ASKING GOD PERMISSION SMH GASTON WRONG BUT WHAT GOD EXPECT OF US AS A PEOPLE
We are now aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that these individuals have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity.
Given these individuals have been identified initially as rich investors and now are dead migrants being trafficked.
It’s time for an international investigation where the Government responsible is being investigated and not the investigators.
Recklessness on all levels. Tell us again why Antiguan Airways was a good investment?
This is a very sad and alarming situation for the families for all the West Africans who made this less than memorable trip to Antigua. Not knowing the exact fate of their love one must be a heart wrenching experience and i hope to that the authorities will soon release the names of those who survived. I know that the Prime Minister promised an investigation into this tragedy and I am optimistic that the investigation would be broadened to include how this group got to Antigua in the first place because clearly these are people who was in a place where they did not want to be. If you are ever in a place where you do not want to be, you feel imprisoned. Antigua was never on their radar as a final destination and perhaps will never be and to them, it’s as if they are being held hostage here. It is that feeling that have driven them to want to risk their lives by taking these treacherous sea journey. The truth is, if this journey to the USVI had succeeded, most if not all of them would have taken subsequent trips, because Antigua is not the place they want to be. I fear that down the road, there will be more illegal attempts at leaving Antigua. We risk continued horror and bad press if we do not resolve this situation one and for all.
This is a real tragedy. However these individuals didn’t come to Antigua to stay but as a gateway to the USA. This is no different than Africans moving to North Africa hoping to be smuggled to Europe on over crowded boats, resulting in many lost lives at sea. There were supposed to be over 1000 Africans and only about 600 are supposed to still in Antigua. What happened to the rest? Were they smuggled?
Gaston is most likely going to did up some graves to bury them as the graveyards full and no new cemetery.
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