Mediterranean crisis reflects escalating migration worldwide
‘In just three days, more people land on the tiny islands in eastern Greece than claimed asylum in Ireland in all of 2014’
‘There is rightly much pride in the life-saving work of the LÉ Eithne and its crew.’ Above, migrants wait to disembark from the Irish Naval ship LÉ Eithne at the Catania harbour, on June 16th, 2015. Photograph: AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi
Footage of Irish naval personnel rescuing women, men and children in peril at sea has brought the crisis in the Mediterranean closer to home. There is rightly much pride in the life-saving work of the LÉ Eithne and its crew. Search-and-rescue operations are the immediate priority. However, it is clear that a comprehensive response to a humanitarian tragedy of this scale is urgently required.
The international response must be guided by an understanding of why people are taking such dangerous journeys. For the majority of them, the reasons are war, conflict and persecution.