Press Release
Hundreds of Women and Children Sink to their Death in a Capitalist and Nationalist World Stripped of its Humanity

On the 18th of June, 2023, the BBC reported on the sinking of a boat carrying over 500 migrants off the Greek coast. Pictures of the boat taken by coast guards before sinking show hundreds of men crowded on the top deck. The boat was designed to hold only a fraction of that number of people. Of the 104 people rescued there are still hundreds missing. There have been horrifying details that have emerged from the accounts of the survivors. People on the boat reported that it “had been drinking sea water for at least two days” before it sank.

UN human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence is quoted as saying: “Large numbers of women and children were among those missing in the ‘horrific tragedy’”. It was later understood that 100 children were hidden in the bottom of the holding zone of the boat, which sank to the bottom of the sea.

The negligence and deliberate abandonment of the innocent people on board was documented by journalists reporting on the tragedy. Initially, the coastguard said it had kept a "discreet distance" from the boat. But then Greek newspaper Kathimerini quoted a source saying members of the coastguard had tied a rope to the boat so its crew could check on conditions, and those on board had then untied it to continue heading for Italy. Government spokesman Ilias Siakantaris confirmed on Friday that the coastguard had "used a rope to steady themselves, to approach, to see if they wanted any help”. But he stressed: "There was no mooring rope," suggesting that there was no attempt to tow the boat or tether it for any length of time. Most of the passengers were Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, Afghans, and Palestinians.

La hawla wala Quwatta Illah Billah! What kind of inhumanity is organising the world for hundreds of women and children to be left to sink into the ocean? Where is the accountability of our rulers who have remained silent to the suffering of our women and children? We live under a capitalist world order that pushes away the most desperate and vulnerable of people from their shores due to nationalistic and economic interests. It is a world order bereft of moral and humanitarian values.

There can be no excuse for this willful neglect of our matters and abandonment of our brothers and sisters to their death. The violation of protecting the lives of Muslims is an action that angers Allah Al-Malik Al-Jabbar. We, as Muslims, cannot witness the thousands of our brothers and sisters that are left to drown and have no response to this. Those people we see dying in the media are a fraction of the true death toll, as many migrants are undetected and lose their lives in the most terrifying of manners. What will the children of tomorrow in Allah's hands say about their betrayal of trust in us when they are called to bear witness of their violated rights?

O Muslims! No delay can be justified in the work for the establishment of the Khilafah (Caliphate) based upon the method of the Prophethood to look after the life issues commanded by Allah (swt). You must hasten to set it up as quickly as possible that will never allow your abandonment and neglect. Rather it will open its land to the oppressed and offer them protection, dignified sanctuary, and take care of their affairs, regardless of their nationality, race or religion – for this is the mark of a civilized, humane state governed by the Laws of the Creator Al-Aziz Al-Kareem.

[إِنَّ فِي هَذَا لَبَلَاغًا لِّقَوْمٍ عَابِدِينَ]

“Indeed, in this [Qur'an] is notification for a worshipping people.”  [Al-Anbiya: 106]

The Women’s Section
in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir