As Routes to Europe Close, Refugees Consider a Deadly Crossing

As nations like Macedonia, Turkey, Hungary and Greece block refugees from crossing their borders, a wave of people fleeing conflict, terrorism and retribution in Syria and elsewhere has shifted direction to a more treacherous route. UN refugee officials estimate that the number of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Libya in 2016 has nearly doubled from the same period in 2015. The crossing is long, but “Italy remained a preferred destination over Greece because refugees arriving in Greece must pass through the Balkans to get to Germany, which is the preferred destination of many asylum seekers,” reports Mirren Gidda for Newsweek. The EU and individual governments patrol the area for smugglers. Libya is a failed state, so much so that Gidda concludes, “On April 4, the country’s self-declared Islamist government stepped aside to allow a U.N.-backed one to take control.” – YaleGlobal