"So we back we came to me again, and the idea that the cause of their death was -- me. In other words, not the sea, not migration policy, not the trafficking mafia, not the war in Syria or the famine in Sudan -- me. My judgement, to be precise [...]."

This quote sparked something in my brain and while the current narrator, in my opinion, feels a bit apathetic and disconnected, there is a point to bring out in what she's saying here. I see the angle at which she, or individuals in general, are almost used as scapegoats. There are much bigger issues and reasons as to why there is, for example, a famine in Sudan -- it's not her as an individual, but global politics and imperialism and the U.S. and sanctions, etcetera etcetera.

It's these things that pushed these migrants out of their homelands and lead them to embark on such a perilous journey and there's not really a way to tangibly imprison or punish these "things" in the imperialist and capitalist framework we are in. Thus, I can understand why the narrator is feeling unjustly accused in a way, though I don't think she is absolved of responsibility, so I guess it goes back to the question of complicity that is mentioned in the book's description.

Not sure if I articulated that well, but I'm just having so many thoughts right now!

EDIT: just also wanted to add this other thought I've been having is the complicity and maybe even hypocrisy(?) of the police investigator. I'm not sure what the outcome was/is/will be for the migrants who survived. Were they able to receive asylum or were they punished and deported by the same legal system the police investigator is working within? Then the police investigator becomes one that is seeking justice (?) for migrants who died and also the one punishing the migrants who survived.

I'm not really clear on what role of the police investigator is, so this thought is coming with assumptions and my own perceptions of what a police investigator is.