It was a brutal week-end and it would be interesting to do a survey on how many people in the world were affected in their daily routing by the horrific death of over 700 migrants off the coast of southern Italy between Wednesday and Friday.
Has this loss of life become so common that it no longer impacts on us that men, women and children already loaded with despair now drown with such consummate ease that it is almost as if the end was scripted and, therefore, expected.
But this is not a film and no director calls “cut.” On the contrary the fact that the despair we speak about is so intense and thick that it does not allow penetration compels fathers and mothers to put their little children at risk, getting into these boats while knowing that they could be signing their death warrant.
And herein lies the crux of the problem. These boats, now clearly engaged in the movement of human traffic and integral to a black market and run by gangsters, have to embark from some point.
You cannot smuggle 500 people with wailing children and little bundles of what they own without the authorities being complicit in the arrangement.
Even at night the logistics would be so difficult and complex that there would be a trail of witnesses. Assuming they are herded like sheep with scant concern for their comfort still getting them from their position on land to the boats means there is a system in play.
These operations have to be stopped at source. The UN must take cognizance of the increase in traffic and begin to pinpoint the sensitive areas on the coastline of Africa.
If it is generally agreed that the smugglers are not doing the transition out of the kindness of their hearts then it is mandated that they be made the target and made accountable.
To think that one of the boats being used in these catastrophic exercises did not even have an engine and was being towed by a rope with several hundred souls on board indicates not just how prepared these people are to die for a glimpse of another life but are prepared to pay for this dubious privilege.
After this week-end, the time for niceties is over and these smuggler gangs have to be seen vas murderers involved in placing at grave risk human lives.
The only way to reduce the numbers of these migrants riding on waves of death disguised as hope is to concentrate on closing down the strongholds of the smugglers. Nothing less will make an impact.
Has this loss of life become so common that it no longer impacts on us that men, women and children already loaded with despair now drown with such consummate ease that it is almost as if the end was scripted and, therefore, expected.
But this is not a film and no director calls “cut.” On the contrary the fact that the despair we speak about is so intense and thick that it does not allow penetration compels fathers and mothers to put their little children at risk, getting into these boats while knowing that they could be signing their death warrant.
And herein lies the crux of the problem. These boats, now clearly engaged in the movement of human traffic and integral to a black market and run by gangsters, have to embark from some point.
You cannot smuggle 500 people with wailing children and little bundles of what they own without the authorities being complicit in the arrangement.
Even at night the logistics would be so difficult and complex that there would be a trail of witnesses. Assuming they are herded like sheep with scant concern for their comfort still getting them from their position on land to the boats means there is a system in play.
These operations have to be stopped at source. The UN must take cognizance of the increase in traffic and begin to pinpoint the sensitive areas on the coastline of Africa.
If it is generally agreed that the smugglers are not doing the transition out of the kindness of their hearts then it is mandated that they be made the target and made accountable.
To think that one of the boats being used in these catastrophic exercises did not even have an engine and was being towed by a rope with several hundred souls on board indicates not just how prepared these people are to die for a glimpse of another life but are prepared to pay for this dubious privilege.
After this week-end, the time for niceties is over and these smuggler gangs have to be seen vas murderers involved in placing at grave risk human lives.
The only way to reduce the numbers of these migrants riding on waves of death disguised as hope is to concentrate on closing down the strongholds of the smugglers. Nothing less will make an impact.
