Rising Toll on Migrants Leaves Europe in Crisis; 900 May Be Dead at Sea (ship capsized)

ROME — European leaders were confronted on Monday with a humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean, as estimates that as many as 900 migrants may have died off the Libyan coast this weekend prompted calls for a new approach to the surging number of refugees crossing from Africa and the Middle East.

Even as efforts continued to collect the bodies from the sinking off Libya late Saturday and early Sunday — only 28 survivors have been found — Italian rescue ships responded to new distress calls from other vessels. A second migrant ship crashed near the Greek island of Rhodes, underscoring the relentless flow of people fleeing poverty, persecution and war.

“What happened on Sunday was a game changer,” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta said at a news conference with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy. “There is a new realization that if Europe doesn’t act as a team, history will judge it very harshly, as it did when it closed its eyes to stories of genocide — horrible stories — not long ago.”

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At a small gathering of Nigerian migrants on Monday at a church in Tripoli, Libya, several said they remained determined to make the sea journey to Italy, no matter the dangers. Many of them spoke of the difficulty of life in Nigeria and of making a treacherous desert crossing just to reach Libya. And in Libya, they said they lived at the mercy of lawless militias that often jail African migrants or subject them to extortion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/21/world/europe/european-union-immigration-migrant-ship-capsizes.html

This is a pretty big deal this event occurred within the last 24 hour, the above story has many paragraphs. This article was published the the day before this one capsized.

Migrant boat disaster: ‘irresponsible’ rhetoric blamed for failure to restart rescue

UN official accuses politicians in Britain and across Europe of obstructing attempts to save migrant lives after boat sinks in Mediterranean

Anti-immigrant rhetoric from politicians across Europe, including Britain, is blocking attempts to introduce large search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean that would save large numbers of migrant lives, a senior UN official has warned.

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“It’s a fear of foreigners, which is a logical fear, a natural fear, but it is being exploited for populist or political reasons, especially in election periods.”

An estimated 400 migrants drowned last week when their boat capsized en route from Libya to Italy. The tragedy prompted fresh calls from human rights organisations to mount large-scale search-and-rescue operations, but UNHCR officials say politicians are choosing to avoid upsetting their electorates. “The level of this dialogue compared to 20 years ago is just incredible. It wouldn’t have been possible in the past, the racist rhetoric, the rhetoric of intolerance. In the 60s, 70s and the 80s, we would never have accepted this,” said Jolles.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/18/mediterranean-migrant-rescue-operation-rhetoric-blamed

I double checked carefully the 700-900 feared capsize occurred Saturday not last week so apparently hundreds capsizing & drowning is apparently occurring on a regular bases

Here is a recap of the 10 points put forward by the European Commission and backed by EU foreign and interior ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday:

The EU will reinforce the EU's maritime patrolling operations in the Mediterranean, called Triton and Poseidon, by giving them more money and equipment. The EU will also extend their scope to patrol a wider area of sea.

The bloc will make a systematic effort to capture and destroy vessels used by the people smugglers, using the EU's counter-piracy "Atalanta" operation off Somalia as a model. EU officials said it would be a combined civilian and military operation but gave no more details.

The EU's law enforcement, border control, asylum and prosecutors' agencies will meet regularly and work closely to gather information on how the smugglers operate, to trace their funds and help investigate them.

The European Union's asylum support office will to deploy teams in Italy and Greece for joint processing of asylum applications.

EU governments will fingerprint all migrants.

The EU will consider options for an "emergency relocation mechanism" for migrants.

The European Commission will launch a voluntary pilot project on resettling refugees across the EU

The EU will establish a new return programme for rapid return of "irregular" migrants co-ordinated by EU agency Frontex from the EU's Mediterranean countries

The EU will engage with countries surrounding Libya through a joint effort between the Commission and the EU's diplomatic service

The EU will deploy immigration liaison officers abroad to gather intelligence on migratory flows and strengthen the role of the EU delegations

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11548995/Mediterranean-migrant-crisis-hits-Italy-as-EU-ministers-meet-live.html

There has been a massive refugee & migrant exodus into Europe not just with the Mediterranean but the proposal to scale back search & rescue to let them drown would deter the others has a poor understanding what it is they're fleeing. Then there are the parasites that see an opportunity & charge rates to smuggle them & they are willing to save up the money risk the journey on an overcrowded boat.

Symptomatic of the overall crisis in the region that is continuing to worsen.