Staff Writer
As
many as 900 people are feared to have drowned off the coast of Libya on Sunday
when a severely overloaded boat carrying nearly 1,000 migrants capsized. The
migrants were seeking escape from their war-torn country, hoping to find refuge
in Europe. Only 27 people survived the accident, marking one of the most
devastating shipwrecks in the history of the Mediterranean Sea. The captain of
the ship and a crew member were both charged with favoring illegal immigration.
The captain was also charged with reckless multiple homicide after reports
surfaced that a few hundred passengers were forced to enter the lowest level of
the ship, where they were locked behind doors and left to die.
According
to a merchant ship diverted for rescue purposes, when the passengers saw the
nearby rescuers, they all rushed to one side, capsizing the overloaded vessel.
Another 400 people drowned in an accident on April 13, once again involving
migrants fleeing Northern Africa, bringing the total number of deaths on the
Mediterranean in the past week up to 1,300.
The
disasters have prompted calls for a new approach to the issue of high volumes
of refugees crossing the sea from Africa and the Middle East. European leaders
are being asked to find a way to balance humanitarian responsibilities against
the general public resentment of immigrants in Europe. The question they must
answer is whether or not to expand the budget to include extensive rescue
efforts in the Mediterranean to help put a stop to the unnecessary deaths of migrants
seeking refuge from their life of war, persecution, and poverty.
