Karaburun tragedy, also known as 9 January tragedy in 2004 was the fatal trip of 36 people from north Albania, 2 dinghy drivers and 1 of the traffic leaders, who were trying to cross the Strait of Otranto towards Brindisi in the coasts of Puglia by means of an inflatable boat. 28 of them died or were declared lost.[1] Karaburun tragedy is the Albanian emigrants' marine tragedy with the 2nd highest mortality rate after the Otranto tragedy in March 1997, when the Albanian ship with clandestine was hit by the Italian combat ship Sibilla, causing the death of 84 people[2][3] Unemployment, low incomes and difficult living conditions forced people to go outside Albania, especially in the ’90. But a harsh visa regime and great difficulties for obtaining a visa in foreign embassies, followed by a process that involved lengthy, complex, costly and often humiliating procedures, were the main reasons that lead to illegal emigration.[4] Albania signed its first Readmission Agreement with Italy on November 18, 1997[5] In August 2002, after demonstratively burning some inflatable boats of the illegal traffic in the mole of Radhima, Albanian PM Fatos Nano declared that "… we are burning the past and piracy from our coasts. There’s no more rubber dinghies and traffickers on the waters of the Republic of Albania."[6][7] Despite the political reforms and successes of the Albanian government in the efforts for stopping illegal emigration, in early 2004 this phenomenon still existed and 9 January was a strong proof of it. Only after almost seven years, on November 8, 2010, Council of the European Union approved visa-free travel to Schengen Area for Albanian citizens.[8]
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36 people from north Albania traveled from Shkodër to Vlorë from where they were carried by a closed van to Dhërmi. Each of them had paid 1500 Euros to the traffickers in order to pass illegally towards Italy’s southern coasts. They embarked and together with 2 dinghy drivers and one trafficker set out at around 17:30 from the northern coasts of Dhërmi village on the almost stormy afternoon of 9 January, after it became completely dark. Half an hour from their departure both of the boat's motors stopped, maybe because of the over-load of passengers, as well as the difficult sea conditions and they couldn't even go back. They were trapped by the sea that had a 6 force of the Beaufort scale, despite of being just 3 miles from Karaburun Peninsula's western shores.[7] One of the motors started leaking fuel, which burned some passengers. The people on board tried to call for help their relatives and the police, whereas at 21:30, one of the dinghy drivers called Top-Channel tv. The boat filled with water but didn't sink, whereas some of the unfortunates couldn't resist the cold and the burn and eventually died.
According to Dhërmi police post’s chief, V. Kordhishta, at 17:40 his superiors were notified about the watercraft he saw on the radar, moving away at merely 200 m from the shore and afterwards, with other policemen he went to the place where the embarkation occurred, on the northern shores of Dhërmi and found an abandoned Peugeot car and some empty plastic cans of fuel. Whereas at 18:30, the radar in Vlorë tracked 2 watercrafts 3 miles far from Karaburun’s coasts, what was publicly confirmed by a spokesman of the Ministry of Order during a transmission of Top-Channel.[7] At 18:40 a patrol boat of Delta Force unit, an inflatable dinghy of the Border Patrol and another patrol boat set off and headed to Dhermi. But because of the bad weather they couldn’t progress beyond Mezokanal between Sazan Island and Karaburun Peninsula and docked in Shën Jan bay, near Cape of Gjuhëz. At 19:00 was made possible the approximate determination of the boat’s coordinates, while at 21:40 were notified the Italian representatives of NATO in Durrës, who sent several watercraft and two helicopters. At 1 AM they stopped looking for the lost boat to resume their search in the morning.
A NATO helicopter AB 212 model reached the location of the inflatable boat at 8:30 on Saturday, 10 January. The pilot waited on target for nearly half an hour, until a ‘’CP-407’’ patrol boat of the 28th group of Italian navy (Marina Militare) dislocated in Durrës seaport, could come and save the only 11 survivors. They found 21 dead bodies, 18 males and 3 females, whereas 7 others were missing.[7] A sudden order was given and the 21 dead bodies arrived at 1 PM in Albanian-Italian naval base of Sazan. At 14:20 11 survivors from the Guardia di Finanza's ship arrived in Vlora seaport. The survivors were sent to the hospital for the first aid and one of them went by helicopter to Tirana for further intervention. Only at 18:00, 21 cadavers of the victims inside plastic bags came from Sazan Island to the morgue of Vlorë, where the police authorities didn’t allow journalists to enter.
Several contradictions surround the whole event. The survivors on board told that 2 people died from injuries and burnings from the probable blast of one of the motors, meanwhile one of them was seriously burned and sent by helicopter to Tirana for specialized treatment. Anyway, captain Santarelli, chief of Guardia di Finanza clearly stated that there was no burning sign on the boat. Maybe the motor suffered an unexpected small blast without yielding fire but just leading to fuel leakage.[7] Giuseppe da Salvo, the pilot of the helicopter that was the first to notice the inflatable boat with survivors and 21 victims on board, expressed his surprise when learning that 3 fireworks in good condition were found on the boat. He departed from Durrës at 9 PM when the wind's speed reached 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph), while flying a helicopter would normally be prohibited and after having flied for 2 hours over the location of the vessel on the Ionian sea, turned back without finding the target. Next morning he found the boat. Meanwhile the survivors deny the existence of any firework on board.[7]
The existence of 2 watercrafts was publicly stated late at night of the calamity by a Ministry of Public Order representative through a national tv channel, who was referring to what the radar in Vlore had detected. Nevertheless, after the 11 survivors were found, it was officially spoken of only one inflatable boat with a total number of 39 passengers, except for the Democratic opposition deputies who claimed the concealment of another boat by the government officials. Also Nikollë Mhillaj, the founder and chair of the association 9 Janar asked for pursuing the issue on the highest level of justice and the clarification of the existence of the second boat.[9] Director of Criminal Police of the General Directorate of State Police, Mr. Sokol Bizhga attested in his testimony in the Prosecution of Vlorë that another inflatable boat was found a few hours before Guardia di Finanza’s watercraft rescued the 11 survivors: “At the dawn of 10 January, around 06:30 we noticed at a distance about 4 miles from Gjiri i Dafinës (English: Laurel bay ) a rubber dinghy. We distinguished that there were people on it, but didn’t notice whether they were moving. I contacted with the operating room of Vlora and after 30 minutes a watercraft, probably of the Interforce unit came to place. 10 minutes later a helicopter arrived. When they reached the dinghy, I was confirmed that there were dead people, but I couldn’t go there because there was no place on the vessel for me..."[10]
The two dinghy drivers were firstly sent to the hospital and then taken into custody. One of them, A. Rrokaj, was the son of the chief of Antiterrorist Police Department in Shkodër and nephew of Vlorë Seaport’ s vice director, while this last one's brother was the owner of the boat.[7] Also another relative of them, chief of the Circulation Police Department of Vlorë was involved and all of them were sentenced or imprisoned. The opposition leader deputies of the Democratic party accused the government of strong implication in the tragedy and in the traffic of clandestine. They asked the resignation of the minister of Public Order, Mr. Igli Toska, as well as the PM Fatos Nano. An atmosphere of large discontent arose among people towards the government and some peaceful protest were held.[11] On 3 March 2006, despite provoking a broad public debate, the moratorium on motor speedboats took effect; a three-year term law, banning all Albanian motor vehicles to move in the territorial waters of Albania.[12] After 5 years from the tragedy, on 25 February 2009, some of the family relatives of the victims went on a hunger strike.[13] On March 17, 2009 the Court of Appeal in Vlorë decided to reopen the investigations for the tragedy of Karaburun[14] and in December 2009, one of the main organizers of the traffic of clandestine was arrested in Borgo San Lorenzo, Italy, under a fake name. He had been previously sentenced by 25 years of impriosonment from the Court of Appeal in Vlorë.[15] In February 2010, Albanian President Bamir Topi decreted the law on the “Moratorium of motor sailing boats of the Republic of Albania’’. The Democratic majority approved the law by only 72 votes (out of 140), with the explicit disapproval of the opposition. According to the law, the effect of the moratorium on seas, lakes and rivers of the country was extended for 3 more years.[16]
In February 2004, the well-known Albanian folk singer Bujar Qamili sang Zëra në fund të detit (English: Voices in the bottom of the sea), a song dedicated to the memory of the victims of Karaburun tragedy. Its lyrics were written by Qazim Çela and Jorgo Papingji, whereas the music was composed by Aliu brothers and orchestrated by Luan Degestani.[17][18] In the third edition of Tirana International Short Film Festival (TIFF), held from 6 to 10 December 2006 in Tirana, Albania, the young movie director Gledis Bica competed with the documentary film entitled Ëndrra të Mbytura (English: Drowned dreams). The short movie tells about what happened during the tragedy of 9 January and the title itself refers to the unfortunate victims who were dreaming for a better life.[19][20]