REUTERS/Fadi Mashan
EU ministers of four countries - Italy, France, Germany and Slovakia - urged European Union leaders to take drastic measures to solve the problem of illegal migration across the Mediterranean.
"The recent tragic events with the deaths of hundreds of people in the Mediterranean require a strong and united European response" - said the four ministers who met on Friday in the northern Italian town of Cesena in a joint statement.
According to them, the tragedy concerns the entire European Union, requires resolute action and a "unified and coherent migration policy."
In turn, the Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said that the problem of illegal immigration cannot be Italian only.
Recall that the Italian authorities reported the arrest of 15 migrants from African countries that have managed to reach the European coast. According to Sicily police, they were involved in the death of 12 of their fellow travelers from Nigeria and Ghana, floated with them. According to witnesses, the accident was thrown overboard into certain death only because they were Christians.
The boat, which sailed 105 people from different African countries, came from Libya on Thursday. According to statements by witnesses, several people from Mali, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire began to look for a ship of Christians and throw them overboard in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Surviving witnesses, many of whom are also Christians, say that many victims could be avoided by human chain formed by them.
Every day ships with migrants fleeing from war and poverty come from North Africa. However, not everybody come to the shore. Usually ships in which they swim are long worn out fishing and cargo boats that do not meet safety. Congestion of ships and storms that often occur in the Mediterranean Sea, regularly cause deaths of hundreds of migrants. Since 2000, the waters of the Mediterranean Sea killed more than 22 thousand workers.
The situation is complicated by a number of conflicts, which have been exacerbated in Africa in recent years. This includes civil war Darfur conflict in Sudan, persecution of Christians in Egypt, the civil war in Libya, the Tuareg rebellion in Mali, Christian-Muslim conflict in Côte d'Ivoire, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the activities of jihadist groups " Boko haram "in Nigeria and" Al-Shabab "in Somalia and Kenya.
The worsening situation has affected South Africa too, which, until recently, was considered as almost a model country for the entire African continent. Last Thursday, hundreds of workers, armed with machetes, came to the anti-government rallies, during which began smashing shops owned by migrants and chanting xenophobic slogans - according to them, immigrants are to blame for unemployment, which this year has reached 28 per cent in South Africa. During the protests, five migrants were killed, the police had to disperse the crowd with rubber bullets and tear gas.
source: sputniknews.com/
"The recent tragic events with the deaths of hundreds of people in the Mediterranean require a strong and united European response" - said the four ministers who met on Friday in the northern Italian town of Cesena in a joint statement.
According to them, the tragedy concerns the entire European Union, requires resolute action and a "unified and coherent migration policy."
In turn, the Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said that the problem of illegal immigration cannot be Italian only.
Recall that the Italian authorities reported the arrest of 15 migrants from African countries that have managed to reach the European coast. According to Sicily police, they were involved in the death of 12 of their fellow travelers from Nigeria and Ghana, floated with them. According to witnesses, the accident was thrown overboard into certain death only because they were Christians.
The boat, which sailed 105 people from different African countries, came from Libya on Thursday. According to statements by witnesses, several people from Mali, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire began to look for a ship of Christians and throw them overboard in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Surviving witnesses, many of whom are also Christians, say that many victims could be avoided by human chain formed by them.
Every day ships with migrants fleeing from war and poverty come from North Africa. However, not everybody come to the shore. Usually ships in which they swim are long worn out fishing and cargo boats that do not meet safety. Congestion of ships and storms that often occur in the Mediterranean Sea, regularly cause deaths of hundreds of migrants. Since 2000, the waters of the Mediterranean Sea killed more than 22 thousand workers.
The situation is complicated by a number of conflicts, which have been exacerbated in Africa in recent years. This includes civil war Darfur conflict in Sudan, persecution of Christians in Egypt, the civil war in Libya, the Tuareg rebellion in Mali, Christian-Muslim conflict in Côte d'Ivoire, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the activities of jihadist groups " Boko haram "in Nigeria and" Al-Shabab "in Somalia and Kenya.
The worsening situation has affected South Africa too, which, until recently, was considered as almost a model country for the entire African continent. Last Thursday, hundreds of workers, armed with machetes, came to the anti-government rallies, during which began smashing shops owned by migrants and chanting xenophobic slogans - according to them, immigrants are to blame for unemployment, which this year has reached 28 per cent in South Africa. During the protests, five migrants were killed, the police had to disperse the crowd with rubber bullets and tear gas.
source: sputniknews.com/
