Parlement opent met minuut stilte voor slachtoffers Lampedusa (en)

Opening: minute's silence for migrants drowned off Lampedusa

President Schulz opened the session with a minute's silence for the migrants drowned when their boat caught fire and capsized off Lampedusa on 3 October - a silence which he imagined pierced by the victims' screams and said should mark a turning point in EU policy.

In the silence, Mr Schulz imagined hearing the screams of children seeing their parents drown, of parents unable to save their children. The screams of people lost in a raging sea, in sight of a continent they had looked to for protection and hope.

The EU habitually talks in figures and dry legal jargon about who takes in refugees and who foots the bill, said the President, noting that fishermen who had tried to save the victims had even been threatened with prosecution.

Yet Europe's strength and wealth, compared with the migrants, ought to enable it to afford them protection, he said, adding the hope that this moment would mark a turning point in EU policy.

For further information:

europarl.president.press@europarl.europa.eu

Richard Freedman

Press Officer

+32 498 983 239