Loujin, young girl who died of thirst after delayed rescue buried in Crete

Loujin Ahmed Nasif, the four-year-old Syrian refugee that died of thirst at sea in Malta’s search and rescue zone was laid to rest in Crete last Friday.

Moroccan-Italian activist Nawal Soufia who first reported the case, was present for the funeral in Crete. She posted pictures of the white coffin and called for Europe to “wash its conscience” for not preventing such deaths from occurring in the Mediterranean sea.

Louijin, who was accompanied by her mother and one-year-old sister, was part of a group of more than 60 Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian migrants on board a wooden fishing vessel that set sail from Lebanon to Italy at the end of last August. On 2 September the migrants started running out of basic provisions and as the fishing boat suffered a leak, they started sending distress signals.

Loujin's mother and sister who survived the trip were present for the funeral (Photo: Facebook)

After spending days in distress in Malta’s search and rescue zone close to Crete, 61 migrants disembarked in Crete. Louijin died whilst being airlifted to a hospital after she was found unconscious during the rescue operation. Reportedly, her last words were: “Mother, I’m thirsty”.

Soufia explained how Louijin’s mother and her sister were present for the funeral, after having survived the journey.

“The trembling mother, with her eyes full of tear, continued saying ‘why did they take her from me, why did they take her away from me? Why? Why?’ … and she looked at me seeking an explanation which never came, because I could only hug her tightly and cry with her,” Soufia wrote on Facebook.

“All this pain was interrupted by the bright smile of little Mira (Louijin’s one-year-old sister), to which her mother forced herself a smile to calm her down.”

Soufia also said that an eight-month-old fetus was buried on Friday.

Last Saturday the Malta Refugee Council demanded an official inquiry into Loujin’s death, stating that they expected Maltese authorities to clarify and publish the exact version of events and that anyone found responsible for the girl’s death be brought to justice.

It stated that Malta has a legal responsibility to coordinate the rescue of all persons found to be in distress in its Search and Rescue Zone.

Malta's SAR stretches across a vast area in the central Mediterranean from Tunisia to Crete. It is Malta's responsibility to coordinate rescue efforts in this zone by directing ships that are close by to intervene and disembark the rescued people in the closest, safest port.

On Friday activists joined Archbishop Charles Scicluna and former president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca for a vigil organised by Moviment Graffitti in memory of Loujin and others who died at sea.