Dozens of migrants die off Lampedusa

[GordMay]

At least 82 people have died after a ship carrying migrants caught fire and sank, off the Italian island of Lampedus (South of Sicily) a, officials said Thursday, the latest calamity relating to immigrants trying to reach the country. More than 140 have been rescued but hundreds are missing and remain unaccounted for.

More ➥ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24380247

[redvalaria]

Very sad. Lampedusa is one of my favorite places. I tied up next to the dock that is now covered in bodies. Sad state of affairs, when people need to flee their homelands in order to feel safe or raise their families.

One hopes, one day, that immigration will take a smart turn and become a much more open system, thereby removing the temptation to "traffic" in people.

[GordMay]

Italy is to hold a state funeral for the hundreds of migrants who died after their boat capsized close to the island of Lampedusa last Thursday...
... At least 274 people, mostly from Eritrea and Somalia, died in the capsize. Divers are recovering bodies.
Of more than 500 people on board, only 155 have survived...

More ➥ BBC News - Italy to hold state funeral for shipwreck migrants

[CPseudonym]

My son lives in Italy, he told me of this. It is a tragic story on many levels. Heart felt condolences to those involved both victims and rescuers.

[Rakuflames]

Some of the immigrant stories I've heard living in Florida. One dockhand I knew fled Cuba and got to the USA on a raft made of 55 gal. drums tied together. He said there were about 20 people on his raft ...

and that they passed three rafts in the water with no one on them. Presumably all those people drowned.

I don't rule the world but if I were in charge of a country I think I would want people with that much courage and determination to become citizens of mine. These stories just break my heart.

[SVI]

There are always two sides of the story...
These guys are illegal - once they are accepted and not sent back, there will be 10x more after them.
Europe is getting too tolerant to the immigrants, thus it is overwhelmed by them - most are begging/stealing/selling drugs. Living as a parasite.
Italy was giving away a temporary asylum-seeker document. And them let them go. Of course they will disapear in other Schengen states (no borders). And when they are caught stealing on the train, the police cannot do anything (they don't carry their passports, and do not say which nationality they are - so they don't know where to deport them.
Come on - it is not that difficult to immigrate legally. But ones has to move the a$$ and get a job, fill papers and go through the process. Why bother, if you can pay $2000 and get on a boat...

[ArtM]

I believe in opening all the borders of all nations, but I also realize that this necessitates the creation of a one-world government.

The world has become too small and the populations too large to continue dividing continents into tiny nations based on aribitrary geographic borders