Bad Policies Caused the Lampedusa Tragedy

A boat carrying 500 refugees sank just within sight of the Italian island of Lampedusa. More than 250 died and more are missing. The refugees from Somalia, Eritrea and other hopeless states took off from African coast just 160 kilometers away. Europe has failed to offer a political solution to the refugee crisis. More than 200,000 refugees have landed in Lampedusa since 1999 with up to 20,000 deaths, notes Hans-Jürgen Schlamp for Spiegel Online. He describes the millions fleeing war and poverty: “They sacrifice their family savings and risk their lives to get here. And for as long as these people have no future at home and can't even be certain they will survive the next day, they will continue to flee.” European leaders propose short-term solutions including dialogue with African countries, better surveillance and patrol systems for identifying boats in trouble, and bureaucratic rules like requiring asylum applications in the first state of arrival. Tragic accidents will not end until nations address an inequality that’s so stark and pervasive. – YaleGlobal