Up to 500 refugees drowned when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea on April 18, survivors told BBC. Official confirmations are pending.
Thousands of people have made their way through the three major ocean passages: Turkey to Greece, Northern Africa to Italy, and Morocco to Spain since the crises in the Middle East and Africa drove refugees out of their countries. Thousands have drowned due to inflatable boats not built for open sea and overloaded old vessels.
“Two hundred and forty of us set off from Libya but then the traffickers made us get on to a bigger wooden boat around 30m in length that already had at least 300 people in it,” said Abdul Kadir, a Somali, to BBC. Only few were able to swim back to the smaller boat.
Professor Earl Wyman teaching TESOL said the refugees count on the host nations to take care of their needs in the beginning. “They have to be desperate when they say, ‘I may die. I might not get there safely. I might end up in all kinds of unpleasant situations, but it is worth to try.’”
Young Joo Lee, a senior from South Korea majoring in accounting, said “A lot of people of those countries, when they immigrate, are unable to blend themselves into the societies. It causes a lot of trouble. In my country South Korea we barely started accepting people from other countries who flee. Some help them settle, but ever since the crime rate from those people increases dramatically.”
Wyman mentioned that though the refugees are often misled by a wrong, fantastical image of what life is like in the countries they are fleeing to, these countries are indeed a lot better than their homelands.
“50 percent of the sub-Saharan nations have opened their doors for the refugees,” Rebecca Vigoren, a senior majoring in intercultural peacebuilding from Washington, “when they have nothing to give. Yet us rich States and Western Europe are closing the doors and say we don’t want them.”
Lee on the other hand supported the position of many Europeans. “They are from different cultures and are just running away from their problems. If you have a problem, don’t run away.”
Wyman continued “It is a desperation that is hard for us to feel and in our minds don’t make any sense.” This desperation, said Wyman, is the drive for the Mexicans to cross deserts towards the USA in crowded containers, for refugees from Cuba who try to flee to Florida as well as for the people of northern Africa and the Middle East to seek asylum in Europe.
Vigoren suggested the European nations to give grants and funding to non-profits and humanitarians to help make those channels more available to the refugees and to bring the over in greater safety. She further saw the opportunity for Europe to use these hands to fill the demands of labor in the economy.