Over 450 refugees stranded in the Mediterranean for weeks as EU bars entry
For many weeks, more than 450 refugees aboard two humanitarian rescue ships in the Mediterranean Sea have remained stranded and in increasingly desperate conditions, as EU governments continue to bar them entry to the continent.
A total of 356 people are aboard the Ocean Viking, jointly operated by Doctors Without Borders and the SOS Mediterranean. The ship has been sailing back and forth between Italy and Malta in international waters, 32 miles off the European coast, since August 12, awaiting a port at which to land. France, Spain, Malta and Italy have all refused. The passengers, mainly hailing from Sudan, includea claimed 259 men, four women, and 103 minors (of whom 92 are unaccompanied), who had set sail for Italy from Libya before they were rescued.
A second boat, the Proactiva Open Arms, run by the Catalan-based humanitarian organization of the same name, has been stranded in search of a safe port for 19 days. Since Thursday it has been anchored less than 300 meters off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian government and its Interior Minister Mateo Salvini have refused to allow the ship to land, with Salvini placing his foul attacks of the ship at the center of his efforts to whip up a fascistic movement through anti-immigrant chauvinism and racism.
On Sunday, Proactiva announced that it had rejected the cynical and fraudulent offer by the Spanish Socialist Party government, which for weeks has refused requests to allow the Open Arms to board at its ports, to land at Algeciras.
Oscar Camps, the founder of the organization, wrote in a Twitter post that the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was offering “the farthest-away port of the Mediterranean.” In reality, the Spanish government, which six days earlier had contemptuously dismissed an appeal by Proactiva to take in 31 minors from the ship, was making an offer it knew would be refused. The same day, following the Spanish announcement, France’s Macron administration announced that the country of 67 million people could accept a maximum of 40 refugees.
The EU governments’ barring of refugee rescue ships from their shores recalls nothing so much as the infamous fate of the MS St Louis’ “voyage of the damned,” whose passengers, overwhelmingly German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, were refused haven by the governments of Europe and America 80 years ago.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/20/medi-a20.html
A total of 356 people are aboard the Ocean Viking, jointly operated by Doctors Without Borders and the SOS Mediterranean. The ship has been sailing back and forth between Italy and Malta in international waters, 32 miles off the European coast, since August 12, awaiting a port at which to land. France, Spain, Malta and Italy have all refused. The passengers, mainly hailing from Sudan, includea claimed 259 men, four women, and 103 minors (of whom 92 are unaccompanied), who had set sail for Italy from Libya before they were rescued.
A second boat, the Proactiva Open Arms, run by the Catalan-based humanitarian organization of the same name, has been stranded in search of a safe port for 19 days. Since Thursday it has been anchored less than 300 meters off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian government and its Interior Minister Mateo Salvini have refused to allow the ship to land, with Salvini placing his foul attacks of the ship at the center of his efforts to whip up a fascistic movement through anti-immigrant chauvinism and racism.
On Sunday, Proactiva announced that it had rejected the cynical and fraudulent offer by the Spanish Socialist Party government, which for weeks has refused requests to allow the Open Arms to board at its ports, to land at Algeciras.
Oscar Camps, the founder of the organization, wrote in a Twitter post that the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was offering “the farthest-away port of the Mediterranean.” In reality, the Spanish government, which six days earlier had contemptuously dismissed an appeal by Proactiva to take in 31 minors from the ship, was making an offer it knew would be refused. The same day, following the Spanish announcement, France’s Macron administration announced that the country of 67 million people could accept a maximum of 40 refugees.
The EU governments’ barring of refugee rescue ships from their shores recalls nothing so much as the infamous fate of the MS St Louis’ “voyage of the damned,” whose passengers, overwhelmingly German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, were refused haven by the governments of Europe and America 80 years ago.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/20/medi-a20.html
(edited 4 years ago)
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Refugees have always been denied access to other countries, even all the way back in WWII, where there are multiple accounted stories of great-grandmothers sneaking in other families, and falsifying documents so that they are connected to their family. But the bigger question is, if they allow these people to land, what then?
Who is paying to feed and clothe them? Who is paying for their shelter? Their water? How can they be incorporated into society? What types of trades do these people have? What about children? Elderly? Those who can't work? Governments view refugees as people who tax dollars will be put into, but no profit will be achieved. What happens when the war is over in the country they came from, or whatever it is they are fleeing? Will they return "home?" Or the bigger question, will they try and become citizens? Because there are some, that you know will refuse. After everything a country has done to put in work for them, they may refuse. They may try and stay, and what do you do with unaccompanied minors?
There is also a small percentage of refugees who commit crimes in the countries that give them kindness. What does that mean for it's citizens? We hear a lot of news about what happens in them seeking refuge, but not a whole lot about what happens after. There is also the political debate of criminal justice, they are entering the country "illegally," do they deport them and send them back, as a lesson to others as this is what happens? Or do they accept them, sounding the alarm that if you enter this country illegally and manage to get through that they will welcome you into open arms.
Obviously this is people's lives we are talking about here. But at the same time, the political and international debate among them is a lot of yellow tape to cut through. And with all the aforementioned questions, it's a bigger problem than a lot of countries wish to deal with so instead they turn them away. Because then it's not their problem anymore.
Who is paying to feed and clothe them? Who is paying for their shelter? Their water? How can they be incorporated into society? What types of trades do these people have? What about children? Elderly? Those who can't work? Governments view refugees as people who tax dollars will be put into, but no profit will be achieved. What happens when the war is over in the country they came from, or whatever it is they are fleeing? Will they return "home?" Or the bigger question, will they try and become citizens? Because there are some, that you know will refuse. After everything a country has done to put in work for them, they may refuse. They may try and stay, and what do you do with unaccompanied minors?
There is also a small percentage of refugees who commit crimes in the countries that give them kindness. What does that mean for it's citizens? We hear a lot of news about what happens in them seeking refuge, but not a whole lot about what happens after. There is also the political debate of criminal justice, they are entering the country "illegally," do they deport them and send them back, as a lesson to others as this is what happens? Or do they accept them, sounding the alarm that if you enter this country illegally and manage to get through that they will welcome you into open arms.
Obviously this is people's lives we are talking about here. But at the same time, the political and international debate among them is a lot of yellow tape to cut through. And with all the aforementioned questions, it's a bigger problem than a lot of countries wish to deal with so instead they turn them away. Because then it's not their problem anymore.
Why did the boat head to Italy when they knew full well they wouldn't be allowed to disembark? Hardly a secret that Salvini has shut the door in the face of the incessant arrivals, isn't this trying to force the way in? Misleading to make it a EU policy, it isn't and that alone shows a tendency to distort the real picture.
Original post by AngeryPenguin
The EU governments’ barring of refugee rescue ships from their shores recalls nothing so much as the infamous fate of the MS St Louis’ “voyage of the damned,” whose passengers, overwhelmingly German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, were refused haven by the governments of Europe and America 80 years ago.
The EU governments’ barring of refugee rescue ships from their shores recalls nothing so much as the infamous fate of the MS St Louis’ “voyage of the damned,” whose passengers, overwhelmingly German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, were refused haven by the governments of Europe and America 80 years ago.
Serious...?
Original post by Napp
Serious...?
I'm quoting the article. I wouldn't have made quite that comparison myself.
Original post by AngeryPenguin
For many weeks, more than 450 refugees aboard two humanitarian rescue ships in the Mediterranean Sea have remained stranded and in increasingly desperate conditions, as EU governments continue to bar them entry to the continent.
A total of 356 people are aboard the Ocean Viking, jointly operated by Doctors Without Borders and the SOS Mediterranean. The ship has been sailing back and forth between Italy and Malta in international waters, 32 miles off the European coast, since August 12, awaiting a port at which to land. France, Spain, Malta and Italy have all refused. The passengers, mainly hailing from Sudan, includea claimed 259 men, four women, and 103 minors (of whom 92 are unaccompanied), who had set sail for Italy from Libya before they were rescued.
A second boat, the Proactiva Open Arms, run by the Catalan-based humanitarian organization of the same name, has been stranded in search of a safe port for 19 days. Since Thursday it has been anchored less than 300 meters off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian government and its Interior Minister Mateo Salvini have refused to allow the ship to land, with Salvini placing his foul attacks of the ship at the center of his efforts to whip up a fascistic movement through anti-immigrant chauvinism and racism.
On Sunday, Proactiva announced that it had rejected the cynical and fraudulent offer by the Spanish Socialist Party government, which for weeks has refused requests to allow the Open Arms to board at its ports, to land at Algeciras.
Oscar Camps, the founder of the organization, wrote in a Twitter post that the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was offering “the farthest-away port of the Mediterranean.” In reality, the Spanish government, which six days earlier had contemptuously dismissed an appeal by Proactiva to take in 31 minors from the ship, was making an offer it knew would be refused. The same day, following the Spanish announcement, France’s Macron administration announced that the country of 67 million people could accept a maximum of 40 refugees.
The EU governments’ barring of refugee rescue ships from their shores recalls nothing so much as the infamous fate of the MS St Louis’ “voyage of the damned,” whose passengers, overwhelmingly German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, were refused haven by the governments of Europe and America 80 years ago.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/20/medi-a20.html
A total of 356 people are aboard the Ocean Viking, jointly operated by Doctors Without Borders and the SOS Mediterranean. The ship has been sailing back and forth between Italy and Malta in international waters, 32 miles off the European coast, since August 12, awaiting a port at which to land. France, Spain, Malta and Italy have all refused. The passengers, mainly hailing from Sudan, includea claimed 259 men, four women, and 103 minors (of whom 92 are unaccompanied), who had set sail for Italy from Libya before they were rescued.
A second boat, the Proactiva Open Arms, run by the Catalan-based humanitarian organization of the same name, has been stranded in search of a safe port for 19 days. Since Thursday it has been anchored less than 300 meters off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian government and its Interior Minister Mateo Salvini have refused to allow the ship to land, with Salvini placing his foul attacks of the ship at the center of his efforts to whip up a fascistic movement through anti-immigrant chauvinism and racism.
On Sunday, Proactiva announced that it had rejected the cynical and fraudulent offer by the Spanish Socialist Party government, which for weeks has refused requests to allow the Open Arms to board at its ports, to land at Algeciras.
Oscar Camps, the founder of the organization, wrote in a Twitter post that the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was offering “the farthest-away port of the Mediterranean.” In reality, the Spanish government, which six days earlier had contemptuously dismissed an appeal by Proactiva to take in 31 minors from the ship, was making an offer it knew would be refused. The same day, following the Spanish announcement, France’s Macron administration announced that the country of 67 million people could accept a maximum of 40 refugees.
The EU governments’ barring of refugee rescue ships from their shores recalls nothing so much as the infamous fate of the MS St Louis’ “voyage of the damned,” whose passengers, overwhelmingly German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, were refused haven by the governments of Europe and America 80 years ago.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/20/medi-a20.html
This will not be resolved until the “season” is over. If these passengers are taken now, it will act as a magnet. So they will be quietly allowed in, in early October.
Original post by Napp
Serious...?
And I'm the one with the reputation for 'conspiracy theories', these articles are so far removed from reality and loaded with ideological ammunition that they wouldn't even qualify as a theory on anything. It's just propaganda, complete fake news from top to bottom.
Those souls are stranded for no other reason that somebody put them in a ship and made their way to where they are, the moment they give up the attempt to kick the door down they won't be stranded anymore. Brussels are actually only too happy to see a boat arrive every day, they have been encouraging and fomenting the practice all along.
Sorry but good, there are only so many that can be taken in, so many resources to go around and so much space. I'm sure their lives are hard and I sympathise, but can you see anyone taking us in if the tables were turned? Nope.
They clearly want this to be a line in the sand and act as a deterrent as the situation is becoming ridiculous. I think for once the EU is making a good decision.
They clearly want this to be a line in the sand and act as a deterrent as the situation is becoming ridiculous. I think for once the EU is making a good decision.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Duane2501
Sorry but good, there are only so many that can be taken in, so many resources to go around and so much space. I'm sure their lives are hard and I sympathise, but can you see anyone taking us in if the tables were turned? Nope.
They clearly want this to be a line in the sand and act as a deterrent as the situation is becoming ridiculous. I think for once the EU is making a good decision.
They clearly want this to be a line in the sand and act as a deterrent as the situation is becoming ridiculous. I think for once the EU is making a good decision.
Don't fall for the falsehoods these people put out, the EU's policy is to take every boat in. After that, everyone claims asylum and they are all dispersed among EU countries willing to house them in return for cash. That is what fuels the smuggling routes, it's only Italy that have taken a stand against it after seeing boats arrive at will without anything being done about it by the EU. The EU want it to be like this and hate Salvini and anybody who stands in the way.
Not sure why you’d try Italy. Like Hungary, they’ve been pretty consistent on the whole issue.
Original post by AngeryPenguin
For many weeks, more than 450 refugees aboard two humanitarian rescue ships in the Mediterranean Sea have remained stranded and in increasingly desperate conditions, as EU governments continue to bar them entry to the continent.
A total of 356 people are aboard the Ocean Viking, jointly operated by Doctors Without Borders and the SOS Mediterranean. The ship has been sailing back and forth between Italy and Malta in international waters, 32 miles off the European coast, since August 12, awaiting a port at which to land. France, Spain, Malta and Italy have all refused. The passengers, mainly hailing from Sudan, includea claimed 259 men, four women, and 103 minors (of whom 92 are unaccompanied), who had set sail for Italy from Libya before they were rescued.
A second boat, the Proactiva Open Arms, run by the Catalan-based humanitarian organization of the same name, has been stranded in search of a safe port for 19 days. Since Thursday it has been anchored less than 300 meters off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian government and its Interior Minister Mateo Salvini have refused to allow the ship to land, with Salvini placing his foul attacks of the ship at the center of his efforts to whip up a fascistic movement through anti-immigrant chauvinism and racism.
On Sunday, Proactiva announced that it had rejected the cynical and fraudulent offer by the Spanish Socialist Party government, which for weeks has refused requests to allow the Open Arms to board at its ports, to land at Algeciras.
Oscar Camps, the founder of the organization, wrote in a Twitter post that the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was offering “the farthest-away port of the Mediterranean.” In reality, the Spanish government, which six days earlier had contemptuously dismissed an appeal by Proactiva to take in 31 minors from the ship, was making an offer it knew would be refused. The same day, following the Spanish announcement, France’s Macron administration announced that the country of 67 million people could accept a maximum of 40 refugees.
The EU governments’ barring of refugee rescue ships from their shores recalls nothing so much as the infamous fate of the MS St Louis’ “voyage of the damned,” whose passengers, overwhelmingly German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, were refused haven by the governments of Europe and America 80 years ago.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/20/medi-a20.html
A total of 356 people are aboard the Ocean Viking, jointly operated by Doctors Without Borders and the SOS Mediterranean. The ship has been sailing back and forth between Italy and Malta in international waters, 32 miles off the European coast, since August 12, awaiting a port at which to land. France, Spain, Malta and Italy have all refused. The passengers, mainly hailing from Sudan, includea claimed 259 men, four women, and 103 minors (of whom 92 are unaccompanied), who had set sail for Italy from Libya before they were rescued.
A second boat, the Proactiva Open Arms, run by the Catalan-based humanitarian organization of the same name, has been stranded in search of a safe port for 19 days. Since Thursday it has been anchored less than 300 meters off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian government and its Interior Minister Mateo Salvini have refused to allow the ship to land, with Salvini placing his foul attacks of the ship at the center of his efforts to whip up a fascistic movement through anti-immigrant chauvinism and racism.
On Sunday, Proactiva announced that it had rejected the cynical and fraudulent offer by the Spanish Socialist Party government, which for weeks has refused requests to allow the Open Arms to board at its ports, to land at Algeciras.
Oscar Camps, the founder of the organization, wrote in a Twitter post that the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was offering “the farthest-away port of the Mediterranean.” In reality, the Spanish government, which six days earlier had contemptuously dismissed an appeal by Proactiva to take in 31 minors from the ship, was making an offer it knew would be refused. The same day, following the Spanish announcement, France’s Macron administration announced that the country of 67 million people could accept a maximum of 40 refugees.
The EU governments’ barring of refugee rescue ships from their shores recalls nothing so much as the infamous fate of the MS St Louis’ “voyage of the damned,” whose passengers, overwhelmingly German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, were refused haven by the governments of Europe and America 80 years ago.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/20/medi-a20.html
The whole debate surrounding refugees is about whether we should accept them of turn them away. Surely a better solution is to invest (and I’m not suggesting it would be cheap) in trying to tackle the problems making them flee their home countries, and stop being afraid of taking on the regimes that perpetuate these problems. Accept refugees, turn them away, either way we’re all just dodging the real issue here - some countries have serious social, political, and economic problems that are not going to go away just because we in the west ignore them.
It's such a sad a devastating situation, something obviously needs to be done to help these countries. Its sad people have to risk everything to try and flea to Europe and as much as you would want them to have a better life does nothing to the 40 million other Sudanese. Accepting 450 refugee's sad won't help Sudan from its troubles so Europe should look to invest to improve there lives at home. Also, it's alarming there's 259 men and 4 women.
Refugees are among the least affluent and educated people in the world. While i respect their right to flee tyranny (a great shame we cannot bring market democracy to them) they do not have the right to turn up at the global equivalent of a 5 star hotel, there are many nations like Morocco, Tunisia and Georgia which are relatively stable places to live.
A single refugee is too many refugees. The European continent is not the worlds council house and these people are of little benefit to us even before we consider the long run ethno-cultural ramifications of importing the third world.
A single refugee is too many refugees. The European continent is not the worlds council house and these people are of little benefit to us even before we consider the long run ethno-cultural ramifications of importing the third world.
Original post by schoolsboring
It's such a sad a devastating situation, something obviously needs to be done to help these countries. Its sad people have to risk everything to try and flea to Europe and as much as you would want them to have a better life does nothing to the 40 million other Sudanese. Accepting 450 refugee's sad won't help Sudan from its troubles so Europe should look to invest to improve there lives at home. Also, it's alarming there's 259 men and 4 women.
One question: why should they/we?
Italy is already overrun with refugees and lacks the capacity to be able to look after them in any case; we should be under no obligation to accept them
Original post by Duane2501
One question: why should they/we?
Because the road of refusing to help people who are not part of our society ends in a very dark place. Being born in another country does not make anyone any less human, and if we can’t at least respect our common humanity then our society has no future worth fighting for.
Original post by Duane2501
One question: why should they/we?
If your question is why should be investing in improving conditions the answer is because of Europe are partly to blame for the mess of Africa, when the scramble for Africa took place they basically looted the country of its natural resources and left them with practically nothing, just look at the horror's of the congo free state.
Original post by JanusGodofDoors
Because the road of refusing to help people who are not part of our society ends in a very dark place. Being born in another country does not make anyone any less human, and if we can’t at least respect our common humanity then our society has no future worth fighting for.
We are not responsible for the 6 billion people in the world whose lives aren't as good as ours. We literally can't be.
Original post by DarthRoar
We are not responsible for the 6 billion people in the world whose lives aren't as good as ours. We literally can't be.
Clearly you are right to say that we are not responsible for every other person on this planet, but if you follow this succession of posts back, the “why should we” comment was a reply to someone arguing in favour of trying to improve the situation in migrants home countries. What I was trying to say was that only valuing the lives of people from a our own countries can sometimes lead to the dehumanisation if anyone perceived to be an outsider, and we’ve learnt all too many times what happens when people decide that others are inferior to them. No, we are not responsible for every other human being, but equally we should not deny an opportunity to improve someone’s life JUST BECAUSE they are not part of our society. Sorry if this is not 100% coherent, but it is about 10 o’clock right now, and this is a pretty ‘deep’ debate.
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