{"id":4136,"date":"2021-07-13T13:28:33","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T13:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alcafricanradio.com\/?p=4136"},"modified":"2021-07-13T13:28:33","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T13:28:33","slug":"algerian-artist-builds-cemetery-for-hundreds-of-drowned-migrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alcafricanradio.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/13\/algerian-artist-builds-cemetery-for-hundreds-of-drowned-migrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Algerian Artist builds cemetery for hundreds of drowned migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Mounira Chaieb, Editor, Presenter and Mentor at the ALC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 13, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
French Algerian visual artist Rachid Koraichi<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

French Algerian visual artist Rachid Koraichi has created a unique cemetery<\/a> to provide a dignified final resting place for hundreds of unburied migrants and refugees of all ages, nationalities and religions. The migrants\u2019  bodies have been washed ashore<\/a> along the coastline of Zarzis in the South East of Tunisia.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secretary-General of UNESCO<\/em><\/a>, Audrey Azoulay, inaugurated \u2018the Garden of Africa\u2019,<\/em> as Koraichi called it  in June. During the ceremony, Azoulay presented a small metal sculpture entitled The Tree of Peace<\/em> that has been installed in the garden. Situated on a 2,500m2 plot of agricultural land that Koraichi purchased with his two daughters from a local farmer, Jardin d’Afrique<\/em> will feature hand-made ceramic tiles and a number of plants such as jasmine shrubs and citrus trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a DNA testing facility onsite to archive genetic data taken from the remains in the hope that they may one day be identified by relatives. No one would be buried without taking their DNA first and informing all the embassies in Tunis of the countries the migrants came from of the codes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the absence of African ambassadors at the ceremony typified a widespread lack of concern about migrant deaths, Koraichi said in an interview. \u201cThey are meant to be in charge but take no responsibility for these tragic losses,\u201d the artist added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNHCR reported that at least 500 people died trying to cross the central Mediterranean this year, more than triple the figure in the same period of 2020<\/a>. They came from countries such as Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Egypt and Pakistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koraichi views the garden as a symbolic place, similar to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>He knows first – hand the agonies of thousands of grieving relatives who will never find closure for loved ones who vanished without a trace. When he was 17 his elder brother, Mohamed went missing from the beach in Algeria after being swept out to sea by the riptide. His body was never found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n