For visitors, the Mediterranean is a tranquil blue sea with ample boating, snorkling, swimming and more: the ideal vacation destination. But these gorgeous waters hide a dark secret. For all that they seem alive with color, life and movement, they have come to be known as the “Sea of Death” for the desperate immigrants who attempt to make their way across in search of a better life in Europe. They come crammed into the holds and onto the decks of ships with dubious structural integrity, risking their lives to the hands of human traffickers who profit from those who urgently need to escape one place for another.
In the last 20 years, an estimated 20,000 people have lost their lives in the Mediterranean. The stories of their deaths rarely make the pages of the news, unless an event involves a massive sinking with significant loss of life. The rest die unremarked, with the handfuls of survivors picked up by boaters in the vicinity and sent directly into immigration detention facilities. Activist and commentator Flavia Dzodan, who monitors and reports on immigrant issues in the European Union, has trouble keeping track of all the deaths, even with her eagle eye for news: a sharp testimony to how little the European Union cares about the high cost of its dysfunctional immigration policy.
read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/immigration-policy-gone-wrong-europes-sea-of-death.html#ixzz2lC7wKHpZ
Socialist Worker: A „Sea of Death“ for migrants
http://socialistworker.org/2013/11/06/sea-of-death-for-migrants
Mediterranean migrant deaths: a litany of largely avoidable loss
There is a divide between those who prioritise the saving of lives and those who insist on border enforcement
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/03/mediterranean-migrant-deaths-avoidable-loss
4 Reasons We Can’t Let U.S. Immigration Reform Be Forgotten