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On Wednesday, members of the European Parliament will debate the recent cases of people who drowned while fleeing across the Mediterranean Sea. In recent weeks, it has become apparent that rescues are being deliberately delayed and that many people could be saved. For example, on Sunday there was a shipwreck in which Italian authorities did not initiate a rescue from a ship in distress for more than 24 hours, even though ships were nearby. Thirty people died, and only 17 were rescued. At least 383 people have already died fleeing the Mediterranean this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mass deaths in the Mediterranean Sea are increasingly becoming a political failure of the EU. On Sunday, 30 people drowned again because no rescue was initiated for more than 24 hours after their distress call. There would have been many ways to save the people in time, but the Italian authorities let them die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people have not only become victims of boat accidents, they are victims of a failure to provide assistance. If EU states accept the death of people on the Mediterranean Sea for their political goals, the EU might as well declare moral insolvency. EU states are obliged under international law to rescue people in distress at sea. But they should also be proud of saving human lives. Instead of finally facing up to their responsibility and rescuing people in distress at sea with all the means at their disposal, aid organizations are being harassed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n