The biggest losers are shipping companies because these
ships are stuck and cannot be deployed on any other voyage. But even worse hit
are the seafarers, who are stranded at sea for months, separated from their
families and uncertain about when they will be able to return home.
The scale of this humanitarian crisis is staggering.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), around 6,000
seafarers remain stranded aboard vessels unable to leave the Persian Gulf
safely. The UN human-rights office has reported that at least 6,000 seafarers
aboard some 400 vessels remain stranded in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
These 6,000 people are not soldiers. They are not
combatants. They are ordinary men and women doing their jobs to keep global
trade moving. Yet they have become innocent victims of a geopolitical
confrontation in which they have no stake.
These seafarers, stranded at sea, face disruption in food
supplies, drinking water, medicines and other essential items. Prolonged
confinement, uncertainty and separation from their families are placing an
enormous psychological and physical burden on them.
A conclusion can be drawn that these ships and seafarers
have been held “hostage” by the United States.
Iran, suffering from economic sanctions, has offered safe
exit to these ships if they pay a toll. It is believed that shipping companies
were willing to pay the toll for safe exit, but the US Navy denies exit even
after payment of the toll.
Many analysts term US attacks on Iran illegal and the
detention of ships and seafarers tantamount to “Maritime Terrorism.”
Whatever the legal or political arguments, one fact should
concern the entire world - approximately 6,000 human beings are trapped at sea.
They have families waiting for them. They have homes to return to. They have
done nothing to become victims of this conflict.
The international community cannot remain silent while thousands
of seafarers spend months trapped aboard ships.
May be
the time has come for shipping companies to stop delivering cargo to, or taking
cargo from, US ports unless the ships stranded at the Strait of Hormuz are
allowed safe exit.
This is no longer merely a dispute between the United States
and Iran. It is a humanitarian crisis.
All
stakeholders - the US administration, Iran, shipping companies, maritime
organizations, seafarers' unions and the international community—are requested
to join hands for the immediate release and safe passage of these seafarers.
Political differences can wait. Economic disputes can wait.
But human beings cannot wait indefinitely. The world must raise its voice for
those who have no voice.
Release
the ships. Release the seafarers.
