(20 Apr 2015, 7:36 pm)Andreos1 wrote I have been thinking about the issue of migrants crossing the med for a while now.I personally think we should keep out of it and it should be left to Greece, Italy, Turkey to deal with, They should be detained in the first country they land, claim asylum there, and only when they have been granted asylum, can they go about there onward journey, if asylum is turned down, turn them round, put them back on a boat and send them back to Libya or hand them over to a third country who would take them on the condition they don't come back for a certain set amount of time...
It is a problem, which the media seem to be directing their attention to, but one that has gone on for a long time.
Whilst I feel sorry for the migrants, escaping troubles or conflict at home, there are those who are travelling - to make money or to have a better life, not because of war or persecution. You have families who stick their young children on board, knowing that the Italian authorities will take the kids into care - if they arrive safely.
However, my main gripe, is the criminals and gangs who charter, hire or purchase the vessels - shipping people across the med, in unsafe pieces if kit, rammed in like cattle.
Call the migrants innocent, naive, desperate, vulnerable, greedy or whatever else, but surely the focus needs to be on discouraging them from getting to Libya in the first place and stopping the gangs from shipping them over?
The gangs who take their money and aren't bothered about the cargo, once it sets sail.
The politicians in the UK seem to have picked up on the latest disaster and are giving it their attention and rhetoric, but what difference will it make?
These politicians are essentially at the beck and call of the EU and as members, will be forced to do what the EU say - which includes open borders policies, across mainland Europe.
You then have that Hopkins woman, who said we should machine gun the lot of them.
Not sure what to suggest in the short term, but action needs taking - so that lives aren't lost and criminals aren't making their millions.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/NYwiVwE8MnA
Can't remember what International Law covers Asylum, The Geneva Convention possibly, but I am sure International Law says refugees can head to the nearest safe country to claim Asylum, and last time I looked at a map, for Syrians, Afghans, Pakistanis, Iranians etc when were we, France, Germany the first safe country for these people when there are plenty in between. I apologise If I have not got my facts right
I am not sure what can be done at present to stem the flow over the Mediterranean. If one route is blocked they will only find another way