Latest
reports about 700 to 900 migrants feared deadoff the coast of Libya is another wake-up call that international
authorities have to step up efforts at discouraging the dire menace of naked
deaths taking place in our day and age.
Lives are being lost in droves as if this God-given blessing is nothing precious at all. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost in this new wave of perilous venture mankind has taken up over the recent years.
But why not, when life has almost become meaningless for the majority of mankind, especially in Africa and Asia, whilst few people in other nations are living in affluence.
The world must do something about this new wave of cheap deaths the world is experiencing.
For hundreds of migrants to be losing their lives every other time trying to cross the Mediterranean should mean a lot in the hearts and minds of all reasonable human beings.
In this diabolical trend, Africa and Asia are losing precious lives. The recent deaths off the coast of Libya speak of mostly African migrants from the continent.
The “sinking and breaking of ill-fated vessels” which happened in the south of Italy last week Wednesday, Thursday and Friday leading to the disastrous accidents, has accounted for huge numbers of deaths in these three days.
“About 100 are missing from a smuggler boat which capsized on Wednesday, 550 other migrants went missing in a similar accident on Thursday, and survivors said their vessel was towed by another vessel since they were not having an engine. On Friday 45 bodies were pulled from the water, with an unspecified number still missing,” according to the BBC.
UN refugee agency report also stated that most of those identified were from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan.
Our nation The Gambia has also been having its share of the back-way route deaths, with hundreds of youthful lives that have been lost by the country.
It is on record that at least 1,475 migrants have died this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. But this number has continued to rise each time African lives are lost in droves at the Mediterranean.
We are still saying that while it is true that migration to Europe is difficult to stop, African governments and European countries should continue to cooperate earnestly to discourage this diabolic move by our African youths.
Going to Europe in this manner won’t really be of tangible help to the migrants nor will it serve well for the countries involved.
The remedial steps, therefore, needed to reverse this miserable situation must be taken on the backdrop of addressing poverty, joblessness, lack of proper education, and general underdevelopment in African countries.
This is because these are some of the main factors compelling the wave of migration to Europe.
Therefore, help given to Africa to address the migration crisis must target alleviating poverty, ensuring Africa is industrialised, providing lucrative jobs, making education affordable for all, developing infrastructure, and establishing lucrative investments for economic development and job creation.
On the other hand, we should also ensure that bad governance such as misplaced and wrong economic policies, corruption and embezzlement of state resources, human rights violations, poor democratic values, power struggle and conflicts, are discouraged in Africa.
"There should not be a question of legal or illegal immigration. People came and immigrated.... No one’s illegal. They should just be able to come."
Linda Ronstadt
