A short novel centering around the 2021 English Channel disaster, Delecroix takes the recorded conversations between a sinking boat of asylum seekers and a French Naval traffic control operator who answered the distress calls but failed to take action.
Delecroix writes with a distant, objective voice allowing the operator to argue with an investigator who is inquiring about the incident after the recordings were made public. The operator shows little remorse and maintains that she did her job in fielding a large number of distress calls but that she can’t be blamed for problems arising on an overcrowded dinghy with a bad motor experiencing difficulties in the Strait of Dover.
Many of the operators comments (some taken from transcripts) are callous or cruel, indifferent or ignorant to the reason the migrants would be putting their lives in danger. She maintains that she’s a good mother and visits her parents regularly though she is going through some struggles as a recent divorcee. Throughout the novel she undergoes somewhat of a personal crisis in realizing that she is being criticized for failing to help refugees while no one is helping her. The central question being how much should a fairly average person have empathy for and assist in aiding those fleeing difficult situations in other countries?
Delecroix, a Kierkegaardian French philosopher, provides no easy answers. He doesn’t espouse the “Works of Love” or bring religion into the situation. In fact he balances the public outrage with empathy for the operator whose role in the Navy unexpectedly ended up on the front lines of the extended migrant crisis in Europe. Delecroix provides reminders that we usually ignore more immediate crises to focus on the sensational and try to put blame on individual actions to avoid any personal discomfort.
This novel, and situation overall raises questions: could the situation be avoided if the French had been more welcoming? Could the situation have been avoided if the British asylum program didn’t require application from within the country? Could the countries have collaborated on a solution to a dangerous crossing made by more than ten thousand people annually? Could international aid efforts have prevented large scale migration? Could the media have focused on the situation and humanity of the refugees rather than the difficulties of handling large movements of people? Could the Navy have provided more support for the sea traffic controllers who had to deal with panicked calls on every calm night? Could France be doing more for the people of northern France to ease the backlash among people who generally are less economically comfortable? Could people acknowledge and help those in need in their own communities?
In ~100 pages, Delecroix asks the major questions of what one should do when confronted with injustice whether personal or global. This made me think about the Haitian immigrant situation in Ohio which I heard about from people in the area while hearing about the situation in Haiti from a missionary.
Perhaps deserving of the Goncourt and/or International Booker.
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