Refugee deaths

The deaths of more than two dozen people after their boat capsized in the Aegean Sea on Monday can directly be blamed on European governments, which have tried to make it as hard as possible for migrants fleeing the wars in Syria and Iraq to reach their shores. The migrants were forced to take a new route from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos because of the increased security on the usual route. The boat was less than two miles into its journey before it capsized, with only a few people rescued. This latest incident comes just a week after 37 people, including 10 children, were killed when their boat also capsized. Calling this a tragic incident downplays the thoughtlessness of EU governments towards refugees who are only trying to survive the wars in their home countries. But we should not expect these governments to acknowledge their culpability in the deaths. Instead, they will point to the dangers of these migrants crossings – dangers which they have only intensified – and use that to argue against accepting further refugees. This is exactly what has happened in Australia too in recent years, which has portrayed its anti-migrant policies as ironically being meant for the safety of those migrants.

A sign of just how hopeless the plight of these refugees is the fact that, according to the International Organisation of Migration, in only four days in February there have been more refugee arrivals in Greece and Italy than there were in the entire month last year. The IOM says that this year nearly 75,000 people have tried to make the journey and 374 of those have been killed. The EU should be doing everything it can to make the trip as safe as possible – even providing their own boats, rather than leaving the refugees to the mercy of smugglers who are only out to make a buck and have little interest in the safety of their ‘customers’. European and American leaders’ warning about IS militants being potentially among the refugees should now be exposed as the xenophobic lie that it really is. With conditions as hazardous as they are, and only becoming more dangerous, and with IS easily able to recruit among the home-grown Muslim population in Europe, there is no need and little to no chance of any militants infiltrating the refugees. These are people without a home to call their own who are desperate enough to risk their lives and those of their children. Let’s not add to the danger they already face.