Vol. 77/No. 39      November 4, 2013

They, like thousands of others each year escaping wars and impoverishment in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, risk their lives to get to Europe. At the same time, governments in Europe are tightening their borders.

On Oct. 11, 34 drowned when another boat carrying about 250 people, most fleeing the civil war in Syria, capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.

The day before, 61 immigrants from Iraq, Syria and Palestine died when the boat carrying them sank in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Izmir, Turkey. Three-quarters were women and children.

Over the first nine months of 2013, 30,100 migrants reached Italy on boats from north Africa, according to the U.N. But over the past 20 years, at least 20,000 people have died trying.

In a show of solidarity for the hundreds of refugees who just lost their lives off Lampedusa’s shores, Italian soccer players with the A.S. Roma and FC Internazionale Milano teams wore T-shirts before kickoff Oct. 5 that said in Italian, “Everyone has a right to life #Lampedusa.”

In an apparent oblivious slap in the face, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta Oct. 4 announced that all the refugees who drowned the day before “are Italian citizens as of today.” But the 155 survivors are liable for fines up to $6,800 and face deportation.

In a visit to Lampedusa Oct. 9, Letta and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso were jeered by residents. “As the Lampedusa fishermen sounded their ship’s horns in protest,” said the Irish Times, “a group of islanders gathered outside the island’s small airport to shout abuse at both men.”

The main gateways into Europe for migrants from Africa and the Middle East are Italy, Greece and Spain. Today the top countries of origin include Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia.

More than half of undocumented workers arriving in Europe go through Greece’s borders, according to Frontex, the EU’s border patrol agency. Athens has built a nearly eight-mile fence to block its border with Turkey and shut down this land migration route.

EU member states are discussing plans to bolster Frontex’s sea patrol operations across the Mediterranean to intercept boats.
 
 
Related articles:
Dominican court strips citizenship rights from many of Haitian descent
Students rally in France against deporting classmates
Seven million Syrians displaced in civil war
 
 
 
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