950 migrants suspected dead in the Mediterranean.

[South Club]

 

Call for emergency summit as 950 migrants suspected dead in the Mediterranean

Number of shipwreck drownings 50 times as high as 2014

 

THE ITALIAN Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has called for an emergency summit to address the escalating crisis of migrants dying trying to reach Europe on boat from North Africa. Nine hundred and fifty migrants are suspected dead after the latest shipwreck 60 miles north of Libya in the early hours of Sunday morning.

 

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said the latest sinking could amount to the largest loss of life during a migrant crossing to Europe. 400 people drowned in the same waters last week. The number this year would stand at 1,500 in total if confirmed, more than 50 times more than in 2014, which was itself a record year.

 

An Italian search and rescue mission that saved more than 100,000 migrants at sea in twelve months was discontinued last Autumn due to a row with the EU over funding and a rising anti-immigration sentiment. The EU replaced the Italian scheme with a weaker force and a reduced mandate, as it was widely considered that EU leaders did not want a scheme that could lead to more refugees reaching European shores.

Amnesty International has described the latest disaster as a “man-made tragedy†and Save the Children said it was “a direct result†of EU government’s policy.

 

UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon said European governments should take in more refugees.

He said governments need to “ensure the right to asylum of the growing number of people worldwide fleeing war who need refuge and safe haven.â€

A rising number of refugees have been travelling West from war-torn countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea.  

 

The prime minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, had even stronger words than Moon, stating: “What is happening now is of epic proportions. If Europe, if the global community continues to turn a blind eye... we will all be judged in the same way that history has judged Europe when it turned a blind eye to the genocide of this century and last century.â€

 

Governments in Southern Europe focused their response on the need to increase search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, while those in Northern Europe, like Germany and Britain, focused on stopping the human trafficking smugglers who make significant sums of money from the refugees they transport to the Southern coast of Europe.

 

British foreign secretary Phillip Hammond said in response to the crisis: “We must target the traffickers who are responsible for so many people dying at sea and prevent their innocent victims from being tricked or forced into making these perilous journeys.â€

 

Angus Robertson, SNP Westminster leader, tweeted: â€œHuman tragedy for refugees in Mediterranean must end. Time for an EU crisis summit and urgent action.â€

 

The crisis will be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, and EU President Donald Tusk has indicated an emergency summit could be on the cards.

Only 28 people have so far been rescued from the shipwreck, with the rescue mission continuing.

Picture courtesy of PA

 

Cr: 

 

[Senbonzakura]

Omg. Bless their souls.

[Teru]

so horrible. Europe needs to wake up

[sofi]

Your tags........Here episodes like these are on the news every single day, it's a major issue, humanitarian and political.

It has been going on for years and the solution is nowhere to be found yet.

My country is currently divided because of this, the wealthier european countries are not really helping us and we don't have the resources to save all these people.

 

The EU parliament keeps pressuring us because we are dragging down the entire EU economy and they esort us to prsent results and come out from recession, how can we fight the economical crisis that has been going for decades and this humanitarian crisis, the massive amount of migrants who try to desperately reach Lampedusa, at the same time without any help from the EU or the international organizations that are supposed to help us?

[✨ Ass Fat ✨]

OMFG THIS IS JUST HORRIBLE!!!

RIP to all 

[Azero]

RIP, it's sad what happens there right now and nobody wants to find a solution for it.

[Meth Krystal]

RIP...

[NARA.]

...

[TiramiQ]

this is just horrible, i remember when my teenage neighbour almost died in a ship wreck in 2014 in their way to Italy, i still get the chills thinking about it

[The_Historian]

You want to know the realistic reason for why no one in is talking about it? 

 

In times of crises, such as our economic and political state, no one cares for their lives cos its about how we are suffering from lack of jobs and our high and mighty lifestyle is not what it used to be cos we can't afford to fly out for another holiday, or we cannot afford the lunch at a fancy restaurant. In developed countries they blame migrants for stealing their jobs and what not, and there is a leaning to right-wing politics because people need someone to blame. This is why no one gives damn about migrant lives when they are trying to cross into Europe. 

 

No one wants to take responsibility and no one wants to work towards helping because money is more important than their lives, and it probably be politically unpopular in their country. Which is absolute bullshit. 

 

This global political me me me attitude is a fucking joke, for people who are meant to be members of NATO, the UN and other global institutions that are meant to help. 

 

These events that happen too often are so tragic but absolutely preventable. 

[TiramiQ]

RIP, it's sad what happens there right now and nobody wants to find a solution for it.

 

i don't think "want" is the right word to use here. liek what Sofi said, Italy alone is not able to save all of these people and i know that countries like my own are taking extreme measures to stop this kinda of migration but it still happens. often.

it's really sad how many of these young people still feel the need to do this despite all the danger and the risk they know they are taking.

[Eppo]

I'm torn on this. It's obviously horrible, but at the same time what are developed countries supposed to do? Patrol an entire ocean and give all of the refugees asylum? And then what? More will come? These people are uneducated and often have tribal views. They cannot be properly integrated into society. Giving all of them asylum is not going to end well for developed countries.

[Sorbet]

I'm torn on this. It's obviously horrible, but at the same time what are developed countries supposed to do? Patrol the waters and give all of the refugees asylum? And then what? More will come? These people are uneducated and often have tribal views. They cannot be properly integrated into society. Giving all of them asylum is not going to end well for developed countries.

 

True, they have to find the solution at the source of the problem, which is the current state of Libya's political system.

[sofi]

You want to know the realistic reason for why no one in is talking about it? 

 

In times of crises, such as our economic and political state, no one cares for their lives cos its about how we are suffering from lack of jobs and our high and mighty lifestyle is not what it used to be cos we can't afford to fly out for another holiday, or we cannot afford the lunch at a fancy restaurant. In developed countries they blame migrants for stealing their jobs and what not, and there is a leaning to right-wing politics because people need someone to blame. This is why no one gives damn about migrant lives when they are trying to cross into Europe. 

 

No one wants to take responsibility and no one wants to work towards helping because money is more important than their lives, and it probably be politically unpopular in their country. Which is absolute bullshit. 

 

This global political me me me attitude is a fucking joke, for people who are meant to be members of NATO, the UN and other global institutions that are meant to help. 

 

These events that happen too often are so tragic but absolutely preventable. 

 

Exactly, Mare Nostrum was a step into the right direction, it showed results and what do they do? Cancel it for a weaker program that allowed such disasters to happen.

These lives could have been saved

[Azero]

i don't think "want" is the right word to use here. liek what Sofi said, Italy alone is not able to save all of these people and i know that countries like my own are taking extreme measures to stop this kinda of migration but it still happens. often.

it's really sad how many of these young people still feel the need to do this despite all the danger and the risk they know they are taking.

Well everybody is shifting their responsibility to an other country. It's easy to say that the more wealthy countries don't give money or more like don't take refugees in. But what should they do? Like I am from Germany, and we speak about it. The thing is that we have strict rules about taking refugees in here. And most refugees come for work which Germany doesn't see as an important matter for asylum. Also the refugees camps are full here. Instead of taking refugees in, Europe should help those countries in Africa and middle east, but all they do is creating new conflicts.

[sofi]

Well everybody is shifting their responsibility to an other country. It's easy to say that the more wealthy countries don't give money or more like don't take refugees in. But what should they do? Like I am from Germany, and we speak about it. The thing is that we have strict rules about taking refugees in here. And most refugees come for work which Germany doesn't see as an important matter for asylum. Also the refugees camps are full here. Instead of taking refugees in, Europe should help those countries in Africa and middle east, but all they do is creating new conflicts.

 

You say your refugees camps are full, do you know where all these people desperately try to land? It's on Lampedusa, a tiny ass island, large 20km and only 6k people live there in one small village. I mean the island is literally smaller than most European capitals.

The village is basically rural, there aren't big forces or anything like that, so higher ups from the EU and the numerous humanitarian organizations should come together and take serious measures, because people can't blame the lives of these people on a fisherman village, they should weigh on the shoulders of every EU politician.

There should be outrage, because it just keeps happening, but not only towards my country, that is unfair.

[South Club]

I'm torn on this. It's obviously horrible, but at the same time what are developed countries supposed to do? Patrol an entire ocean and give all of the refugees asylum? And then what? More will come? These people are uneducated and often have tribal views. They cannot be properly integrated into society. Giving all of them asylum is not going to end well for developed countries.

 

We can give asylum to their petroleum, mineral, jewelery, capital etc...but not to their people. #OurSadPriorities.

 

And please let not talk about their education because, my blood boils just thinking that people that do not have to eat are asked to be educated.

[Gyujin]

950? Damn.

[aoabrah]

Why does Europe owe them anything?

 

If anything, European countries should be tougher at keeping them out so they stop trying to come

[Azero]

You say your refugees camps are full, do you know where all these people desperately try to land? It's on Lampedusa, a tiny ass island, large 20km and only 6k people live there in one small village. I mean the island is literally smaller than most European capitals.

The village is basically rural, there aren't big forces or anything like that, so higher ups from the EU and the numerous humanitarian organizations should come together and take serious measures, because people can't blame the lives of these people on a fisherman village, they should weigh on the shoulders of every EU politician.

There should be outrage, because it just keeps happening, but not only towards my country, that is unfair.

Doesn't change the fact, that it's here also full. Germany needs to have standards in those camps. It's not as easy as you think. There was a huge scandal back last year when people found out about the bad condition of one of those camps. It was even closed in the end. And people coming from Africa are not the only one. We have a huge problem with people from East Europe also here.

 

Why does Europe owe them anything?

 

If anything, European countries should be tougher at keeping them out so they stop trying to come

Rude.

[SoShin]

I thought they were 700 victims and 28 survivors.

 

French medias are talking a lot about it. Seems like a new shipwreck happened last night....

[Gøldeñ Fåiry]

950 ? Wth

Rip

[Mischo]

RIP smh

 

I hope things work out in their home countries so they wont have to travel to other countries espcially not "as dangerous" as this

[wings]

You say your refugees camps are full, do you know where all these people desperately try to land? It's on Lampedusa, a tiny ass island, large 20km and only 6k people live there in one small village. I mean the island is literally smaller than most European capitals.

The village is basically rural, there aren't big forces or anything like that, so higher ups from the EU and the numerous humanitarian countries should come together and take serious measures, because like I said you can't blame the lives of these people on a fisherman village, they should weight on the shoulders of every Eu politician.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

Italy is a long peninsula, it's a natural bridge to Europe in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. Every day hundreds of immigrants desperately try to reach our coasts, and we can't stop them.

If EU countries have strict immigration rules, they can't leave everything on Italy's shoulders and at the same time sanction Italy when we drive away immigrants. In 2012 Italy had to pay 15000€ to EU because of the immigrants that were sent back to Libya.

When in 2013 more than 300 immigrants died near Lampedusa, Italy started the Operation Mare Nostrum, and many lives were saved, but this Europe, which is not the Europe that we wanted, doesn't care.

 

 

Doesn't change the fact, that it's here also full. Germany needs to have standards in those camps. It's not as easy as you think. There was a huge scandal back last year when people found out about the bad condition of one of those camps. It was even closed in the end. And people coming from Africa are not the only one. We have a huge problem with people from East Europe also here.

In Lampedusa there are three times more immigrants than the number of people the camp can contain.

You had a scandal last year? I hear about the bad conditions of these camps since the 1990s (immigration due to the wars in Yugoslavia, Albania, Kosovo). And East Europe people come here as well.

I'm not saying that Germany (and other countries) has some faults in this, but surely has responsibilities: if Germany wants to keep immigrants out of the borders, you can't expect Italy doing all the dirty work alone. 

 

The only way could be to stop them before they leave Libya, but Italian forces can't enter libyan limits whenever they want, because it would be considered a military aggression.

[montchery]

Some of the comments here... smh, we are talking about lifes and human beings here.

 

The EU has to do something, it is about damn time. Italy clearly tried with the mare nosstrum operation and it was working just fine. It aimed to save lifes. Yet the EU refused to help fund it and creates a 1/3 of its cost new operation, which aim is not to save lifes. All of this deaths could have been saved, this whole situation could have been prevented. Yet what some of the higher ups are worried about is the EU and the Mediterranean reputation. I just can't... they blame the country but refuse to help.

Italy and Spain have been asking for help for ages, there is no excuse..