APRIL 19, 2015
PALERMO, ITALY (Reuters)
As many as 700 migrants were
feared dead on Sunday after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean, raising
pressure on Europe to face down anti-immigrant bias and find money for support
as turmoil in Libya and the Middle East worsens the crisis.
If the death toll is confirmed, it will bring to 1,500 the
total number of people who died this year seeking to reach Europe - a swelling
exodus that prompted Europe to downsize its seek and rescue border protection
program in a bid to deter them. International aid groups strongly criticized
the decision.
After news of Sunday's disaster several government leaders
called for emergency talks and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said
foreign ministers would discuss the immigration crisis at a meeting in
Luxembourg on Monday. European Council President Donald Tusk said he was
considering calling a special meeting of EU leaders, a summit that Renzi had
called for earlier.
Meanwhile Italian and foreign ships and helicopters worked
into the night to find possible survivors. So far 28 people have been rescued
and 24 bodies recovered, Italian authorities said.
The 20 meter-long vessel sank 70 miles from the Libyan
coast, south of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, as a large merchant
ship approached it. A survivor told the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR
that 700 people on board, hopeful the ship would save them, moved to one side,
toppling the boat.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said details were still
"nebulous" and that he couldn't estimate the total death count.
French President Francois Hollande said the EU had to do
more, telling Canal+ television that rescue and disaster prevention efforts
needed "more boats, more over flights and a much more intense battle
against people trafficking."
"More EU countries must take responsibility for the
refugee situation," said Sweden's Minister for Justice and migration
Morgan Johansson. He called for an expansion of the EU's Triton border
protection program, the scheme that recently replaced a broader search and rescue
mission run by Italy.
The Italian "Mare Nostrum" was canceled last year
because of the cost and because some politicians said it encouraged migrants to
depart by raising their hopes of being rescued.
"It was an illusion to think that cutting off Mare Nostrum
would prevent people from attempting this dangerous voyage," said the
German government's representative for migration, refugees and integration,
Aydan Ozoguz.
Yet Renzi warned that resolving the crisis was not only a
matter of search and rescue at sea. He said a concerted international effort
was needed to locate and stop people traffickers, many of whom have flourished
during the chaos among warring clans in Libya.
"We mustn't leave the migrants at the mercy of criminals
who traffic human beings," Renzi told the news conference. "We are
asking not to be left alone."
"LOOKING FOR A BETTER LIFE"
Carlotta Sami, a UNHCR spokeswoman, said initial information
about the capsized boat came from one of the survivors who spoke English.
This survivor "said that at least 700 people, if not
more, were on board. The boat capsized because people moved to one side when
another vessel that they hoped would rescue them approached," Sami said.
She later added that "several sources confirm the death
of at least 700 people."
Renzi said Italian and foreign navy and coast guard vessels,
patrol boats and merchant ships, as well as helicopters, were involved in the
search-and-rescue operation, which was being coordinated by the Italian coast guard
in Rome.
Maltese Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said the
survivors and the corpses were on an Italian naval vessel coming to Malta, from
where the survivors would continue on to Italy.
Pope Francis, who has spoken out repeatedly on the migrant crisis,
repeated his call for quick and decisive action from the international
community.
"They are men and women like us, our brothers seeking a
better life, starving, persecuted, wounded, exploited, victims of war. They
were looking for a better life, they were looking for happiness," he told
tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square for his Sunday noon address.
Aid groups have called for the opening of a
"humanitarian corridor" to ensure the safety of the migrants but in
Italy there were also calls to stop the boats from leaving and even to destroy
them.
After the disastrous adventures of the drunk Texas cowboy
(George Bush), Condomlisa Rice, Dick Cheney and the other clowns of the US government,
in invading Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and destabilizing the region,
causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people and spending trillions of
dollars of taxpayers’ money, these same or similar clowns decided to overthrow
and kill Gaddafi of Libya. The result
has been a further destabilization of the region and the flood of immigrants in
the Mediterranean countries of Greece, Italy, Spain, etc.
What is even worse, these elected clowns, morons or puppets refuse to pay small countries like Greece for the enormous cost of policing its borders. This has created instability inside Greece and the rise of ultra right-wing parties, like the Golden Down, etc. When Greece is asking for more money to protect its borders, these NATO and EU criminals mock them and refuse to pay for what they did.
What is even worse, these elected clowns, morons or puppets refuse to pay small countries like Greece for the enormous cost of policing its borders. This has created instability inside Greece and the rise of ultra right-wing parties, like the Golden Down, etc. When Greece is asking for more money to protect its borders, these NATO and EU criminals mock them and refuse to pay for what they did.
In our opinion, even a little child could have predicted the
consequences of the actions of these elected or appointed morons or even war
criminals. Yet we let them do whatever
they wanted and now we pay the price and we will be paying the price for many
years to come. We are all liable for this
and there is no way avoiding it. We
killed Gaddafi and destabilized Libya and now there is no policing of the
borders.
In a final analysis, we believe that all these adventures of
the elected clowns or puppets were calculated to intentionally destabilize the
regions and created never-ending liabilities for the taxpayers. The price paid and continues to be paid
though is great, and we have not realized yet what has truly happened and all
its consequences: few countries pay
attention anymore to what the EU, NATO or USA say.
Countries like Russia, China, India are
emboldened and created their own economic pacts. In response, the US is trying to create
additional economic expansion deals with Germany, Cuba, and even Iran.
We must face up to what these elected morons and clowns or
puppets did and restore stability in the region. This disaster that we all are responsible for is not going away anytime soon.