"Lanzarote, 06/18/2021.
Órzola. Overturned boat. Screams in the night. Deaths.
It has happened again, and we already know what today will be made of.
Today in the press, faces of people living a drama, captured without consent, disseminated ad nauseam. Until we move on to something else. Until another event comes to feed the economy of the "click". It doesn't matter if there are minors, babies... after all, they are black. They are not citizens. They are immigrants. On top of that, "illegal" immigrants. They have no rights here. Not to mention dignity or respect. They should consider themselves lucky if their graves bear their names.
Today, our political representatives will deeply regret the tragedy... yes, but from the altar of the Government Delegation, of the Cabildo. Maybe even a minister will task his communications team with drafting a tweet. And they will say they are "committed" to the cause. These people don't have time to go to Órzola, even to throw a flower in the sea. The victims were not of their jurisdiction, of their country, of their color.
Today, the neighbors of Órzola will lose sleep again. They will be in mourning for people they did not know, alone to overcome the trauma. No one will come to visit them to find out how they are doing, to apologize for not having reacted sooner. To tell them that soon there will be a SIVE to detect and be able to help the boats before they crash against the rocks of the coast.
Today, the traveling companions of the deceased are already in police custody. 72 hours sleeping on bunks in a warehouse or in a sports center, treated like cattle, cold, hungry and without understanding anything of what is happening around them, because when they deign to speak to them, they will do so in a language that they do not understand. They don't know what's going to happen. They know nothing about their hospitalized companions. It could even be that they don't even know that some have died. They will need psychological assistance for what they have just experienced. And they will not receive it, because - let's not forget! - they are criminals, potential terrorists. They don't deserve anything more.
Soon, they will be transferred to one of the macro-camps, on another island. There they will receive the same treatment, or even worse. They are numbers, not people. No one will inform them about their rights, they will sign documents they do not understand, and they will be dispossessed of their personal documentation. The misnamed "reception centers" are places where arbitrariness and opacity reign.
And today, while the script of the deadly border policy is repeated once again, many will decide to look the other way. Blame the trafficker. Delegitimize the decision of the people who undertook the journey. Accuse them of being irresponsible for taking their daughters and sons. And ask for a SIVE, not so that they arrive alive, but so that they do not arrive. Because we don't want to see this misery. We want it far away.
While they die in the sea, here in Órzola, far from the centers of power, tomorrow, it will still not matter if they die."