Europe hit by migrant flood of biblical proportions
(Worthy News) – Europe has been flooded by over 350,000 Middle East migrants in 2015.
“Since the beginning of the year 2,342 migrants have died in the Mediterranean, 2,326 in the Channel of Sicily,” said Federico Soda, director of the International Organization for Migration’s Coordinating Office for the Mediterranean in Rome.
“In the last few weeks we have seen many deaths. We think that this may be explained by the fact that the smugglers are becoming increasingly violent and cruel. Migrants are forced to stay in the hold, where they asphyxiate.”
The migrant flood hit Hungary on Sept. 1 as police cleared hundreds of migrants who were desperate to get to Germany from Budapest’s main railway stations. Officials in Hungary and Austria say Germany triggered the crisis when it said last week that it would ease entry requirements for Syrian refugees, sparking what the officials said was a stampede among migrants stranded in Hungary. [ Source ]
If these extraordinarily powerful images of a dead Syrian child washed up on a beach don’t change Europe’s attitude to refugees, what will?
The pictures show a small boy lying face down in the sand on a Turkish beach as an official stands over him.
The child, who is thought to be Syrian, has drowned in an apparent attempt to flee the war ravaging his country.
They are extraordinary images and serve as a stark reminder that, as European leaders increasingly try to prevent refugees from settling in the continent, more and more refugees are dying in their desperation to flee persecution and reach safety. [ Source ]