The bodies of 17 gypsies, probably refugees from Kosovo who drowned while trying to reach Italy, have been discovered off the Montenegrin coast, it was reported in Podgorica yesterday.
The bodies were discovered on Sunday afternoon, two miles from the shore between the resort towns of Budva and Tivat, a Montenegrin daily said, quoting police sources.
The newspaper said the drowned people had been part of a group of refugees rescued by a Cypriot-owned ferry on Friday.
The crew of the ferry Laburnum had rescued 69 Kosovan gypsies who were trying to cross to Italy in a tiny vessel which was having engine trouble and letting in water.
"We put down a rescue boat and reached the tiny boat. Their engine was not running and due to overcrowding was letting in water. We took the refugees to the Laburnum and gave them water and food," the captain said. Instead of continuing to the Italian port of Bari, the Laburnum returned the refugees to Montenegro.
The paper said divers had begun recovering bodies on Sunday evening. "The illegal transport of refugees to Italian shores has gathered momentum. Traffickers do not care about human losses and charge over 2,000 German marks per person for the service. Frequently traffickers take Romanies to the open sea and leave them there at the mercy of their sad destiny."
More than 1,000 immigrants, mostly gypsies fleeing Kosovo, arrived in Bari last Thursday after their ship nearly capsized. More than 100,000 Serbs, gypsies and other non-Albanians have fled Kosovo since June.