If you’ve paid any attention to the news for the past week, you’ll already know what happened to the Titan’s expedition to the shipwreck of the Titanic. It was a gripping story: five passengers trapped in a narrow metal tube, lost on a voyage to explore the most famous shipwreck in the world. A race against time: the vessel allegedly held 96 hours of oxygen at launch. Surface ships, aircraft, and deep-sea robots from the US, Canada, the UK and France have collaborated in an unprecedented search for the lost vessel, costing millions of dollars. When the evidence of a catastrophic implosion was discovered on Thursday, internationally we lamented the tragedy.  

But why has the response been so great for a submersible carrying five, when in the same news cycle a boat carrying 750 migrants sank in the Mediterranean? How come four nations came together to find one submersible, but Greece couldn’t even tow one ship into port? There has been serious scrutiny over the Hellenic coastguard’s response to the capsized ship off their coast. The fishing trawler was carrying approximately 750 people, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Pakistan, seeking safety and a better life. The incident stands as one of the worst boat disasters in the Mediterranean, with 81 confirmed deaths, 104 survivors, and over 500 individuals still missing, including children. The Greek authorities and Frontex, the European border agency, face criticism for their inadequate response, as distress calls went unanswered. The organization Alarm Phone monitors migrant boats, and claims that the Greek authorities were alerted about the boat’s failure and did not provide assistance. The authorities claimed otherwise, that the boat’s occupants refused assistance multiple times, which survivors contradict. CNN interviewed multiple survivors of the shipwreck who described how the attempts of the Greek coast guard to tow the trawler were the catalyst of the shipwreck. One survivor from Syria said, “The Greek captain pulled us too fast, it was extremely fast, this caused our boat to sink.” The Hellenic Coast Guard denies these claims. 

The bare minimum should be acknowledging that everyone, regardless of origin, has a fundamental right to life. CNN’s analysis indicates that the Greek authorities knew about the distressed trawler at least 13 hours before it sank. Even if it hadn’t capsized, conditions on board were already deadly, killing 6 through dehydration and overcrowding. UNHCR Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean described the ship as ‘unseaworthy’ saying that it “should have been rescued and people taken to safety, that’s quite clear,” he told CNN. “There was a responsibility for the Greek authorities to coordinate a rescue to bring those people safely to land.” 

This is not the first time Greece has been criticized for its handling of migrants and refugees. In May, the Greek Coast Guard was caught abandoning asylum seekers on a raft at sea. They were escaping war in the Horn of Africa, having only just arrived in Europe seeking to start anew, when they were rounded up by masked men and stripped of their belongings. The asylum seekers, including a 6-month-old baby, were crammed into a dinghy left on open waters, and it was all caught on film.

Unfortunately, these pushbacks are becoming increasingly common in recent years. Pushbacks are measures aimed at forcing refugees and migrants out of one nation’s territory and impeding access to legal frameworks. They are violations of international law and European regulations. Greece’s aim is to avoid the legal responsibility to rescue, by towing ships out of their water into another country’s, typically Italy’s, territory. The end goal is to not have to process the asylum requests or allow the migrants entry. 

Governments often attempt to shift blame onto smugglers following such tragedies. However, people smugglers are not the root cause of mass migration but rather a response to the demand created by individuals seeking safety and survival. Solutions like deportation and turning refugees away at the border fail to address the underlying factors that drive migration. Instead, it would be most effective to improve conditions in countries of origin and provide efficient protection processes to prevent individuals from being stuck in limbo.

The contrasting responses to two recent maritime tragedies highlight a troubling discrepancy in how we value human lives. While an overwhelming international effort and resources were mobilized to locate the submersible, the Greek Coast Guard neglected, ignored, and may have even sank a boat carrying 750 migrants. The loss of any life is a tragedy, but it is worth noting that these responses are inversely related to the quantity of life lost. The resources dedicated to finding five wealthy deep-sea tourists were millions of dollars greater and many times more efficient than those dedicated to the rescue of asylum seekers. Injustices and abuses against refugees will continue until we address the underlying factors driving migration and protect and support those seeking safety and a better life.