Amna: It's been one week since
an overloaded fishing trawler
filled with hundreds of migrants
sank off the southwest coast of
Greece.
It left a port in Libya and
cross the mediterranean before
becoming disabled.
It drifted for hours before
capsizing.
Hundreds remain unaccounted for.
>> This video from a European
border force patrol plane shows
the fishing boat drifting before
it capsized and sank.
Around are still missing and
600 feared drowned, among them
women and children trapped below
decks.
Just over 100 survivors have
been rescued, all of them men.
>> I think that the sinking of
this ship, this small,
relatively small and seriously
overloaded fishing vessel and
the apparent loss of between 400
and 750 people, this is, I
believe, one of the worst over
recent years, if not the worst.
>> Gillian Triggs is the un
refugee agency's assistant
secretary general with special
responsibility for the
protection of those in peril.
She says the death rate among
those trying to reach Europe is
rising.
>> We are concerned that people
are even more desperate now are
-- they will take these voyages
knowing full well what the risks
are.
When we ask people who've
survived these shipwrecks, they
will all say that they're well
aware of the risks, but they are
so desperate that this is what
they will choose to do,
including with their families.
>> The Greek authorities say
they will continue a search for
bodies as long as necessary, but
there's no hope of finding
anyone alive.
Survivors are recovering in a
refugee camp near Athens.
Adil Hussain, originally from
Pakistan, is looking for a
friend of his brother, who was
also on the boat.
>> I don't know where my brother
is he is I don't know, missing.
, My brother left Libya last
Friday, three days I cant find
him.
No one will tell me.
>> Hussain last spoke to his
brother just after he boarded
the vessel in Libya, where
migrants are frequently
terrorized before embarkation.
>> As soon as he got into the
boat he said only 50 people will
fit and they were putting 750 on
board.
He said it's 100% sure it will
take in water.
I told him to get off, don't go,
and he said the mafia won't let
us, they have guns, they have
knives, they were forcing people
in.
>> Many of the victims came from
Pakistan.
The family of 25 year old
shehryar sultan, say he was
tricked into believing the trip
to Europe would take two to
three days.
>> We just heard the news
recently, about two or three
hours ago that it had been
confirmed that the dead body of
the sultan's companion has been
found.
>> Nine Egyptian men, plucked
from the water, have been
charged in connection with the
shipwreck and are in pre-trial
custody.
The traffickers charge the per
$500 passenger and stood to make
over the suspects all deny
$3 million.
Wrongdoing.
>> Where does the fault lie? Is
it the smugglers or is there
culpability elsewhere?
>> Well, clearly, we're
concerned about people
smugglers, crime, criminal
elements, trafficking, and we
fully support efforts to manage
that element of crime.
But accountability rests in so
many areas.
And we need a joined up European
and north African approach so
that we have more reliable
search and rescue, more reliable
disembarkation and ultimately
redistribution of people in need
of international protection.
>> Greece is facing a barrage of
criticism.
Its coastguard was alerted to
the stricken vessel fifteen
hours before it went down.
This picture was taken from a
coastguard cutter.
Greece has denied claims that
the fishing boat capsized during
an attempted tow.
The disaster has appalled Craig
Spencer, an emergency doctor
from Rhode Island.
Spencer spent six months in the
mediterranean on board the
aquarius rescue ship where
safety of migrants in distress
was paramount.
>> I don't think any of us can
imagine what it's like getting
your small child and putting
them on a boat in the middle of
the night without food, without
water on an unseaworthy vessel
that that being your only
option, and to be confronted by
a coast guard that is
responsible under international
and national maritime law.
Save lives at sea.
It's just it's truly
unbelievable.
>> Greece is under fire because
of its hardline anti migrant
policy, including proven cases
of so called pushbacks, where
rescued refugees have been taken
back out to sea.
In stark comparison to the
Italians who honour their
obligations under international
law.
>> As far as you can tell, is
this a consequence of Greece's
well documented pushback policy?
>> I can't give you a definitive
answer to that until we see the
results of the investigation.
But what I can say is that
countries on the front line,
some of them in particular, have
not accepted their
responsibility for search and
rescue.
They have pushed back both at
land frontiers and at and sea
borders.
>> The European union has
pledged more than $15 billion to
bolster its migration policy.
Much of Europe is exasperated by
the never ending flow of
migrants.
But despite the risks, they keep
on coming.
For the pbs newshour, I'm
Malcolm brabant.