Politicans must put peoples' lives before border protection

(Vatican Radio) This year is on track to become the deadliest year ever for migrants heading for Europe across the Mediterranean Sea, with the International Organization for Migration estimating nearly 3,000 people have died so far this year.

That figure includes 700 people fleeing from Africa who have drowned in two separate boat wrecks of the coast of Libya and Malta during the past week - the same number of victims that were killed during all of last year.

Christopher Hein, director of the Italian Council for Refugees, spoke to Philippa Hitchen about the reasons behind this worsening humanitarian crisis…

Listen: 

Dr Hein says it has to do with the worsening quality of boats that are increasingly used to smuggle people across the sea…..also the weather conditions are less stable than in recent weeks….and thirdly the total numbers of those attempting the crossing has increased dramatically in the last 3 months, coinciding with the increasingly critical situation in Syria and neighbouring countries such as Iraq…..at the same time, he says that unfortunately there has been no European policy response to try and promote measures that could at least reduce the numbers of these tragedies…

Asked what immediate measures his organisation is calling for to reduce these deaths, Hein says “To open channels (so) that people have a chance to arrive here in a legal and protected, normal manner.” Such channels, he says, do not exist except for a very few exceptions, such as Germany which has a quota of 20.000 refugees from Syria – though this number is very low, he says, it is a step in the right direction….

From a psychological perspective, Hein says it’s vital that people have hopes that they can reach a safe haven in asylum countries of Europe in a normal manner: “If they have such a chance, people would also maybe wait a little bit more and not just jump on the very first boat they find or are pressed to go on…”

Hein says he hopes the media and public opinion in Europe will do more to try and stop these tragedies. As the first anniversary of the October 3rd Lampedusa tragedy approaches, he says his organisation is hoping that people in schools, on the streets, in trade unions and in the media will try and push policy makers to make a different and not just speak about the problems of protecting borders but of saving peoples’ lives….”