Monday, April 20, 2015

Human Smuggling. This was not the first boat capsizing.

There are those in Europe that believe this is an abandonment of saving lives in the Mediterranean.

There is the concern for Daesh. The question is whether or not the fear justifies abandonment of migrants? I would think the patrols in the Mediterranean Sea would have a way to dispatch life preservers when they come across those migrating in desperation of saving their lives.

I realize no one wants to interfere in a way that appears to be permission for the migrants to do so, but, in reality it is only a matter of human rights and the way it is practiced in the world.

April 19, 2015
By Eric Reguly

...The Italian coast guard (click here) on Sunday afternoon said that only 24 bodies had been recovered, suggesting that the migrants were not even equipped with simple life jackets.

The incident appears to be similar to one last week, when about 400 migrants were believed to have drowned when the sudden rush to one side of the boat caused it tip over. “A tragedy is unfolding in the Mediterranean and if the EU and the world continue to close their eyes, it will be judged in the harshest terms, Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat said Sunday.

Speaking at a political event in northern Italy, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi said Europe was witnessing “systematic slaughter in the Mediterranean.”

If confirmed, the 700 deaths would bring the number of dead in the Mediterranean to 1,500 so far this year. That’s a nine-fold increase over the first four months of last year. In 2014, more than 3,000 migrants perished in the Mediterranean, the highest on record. With the migrant crossings becoming more frequent as the weather turns warmer, the UNHCR and the emergency rescue services fear the death toll could set a new record in 2015.