Submarine got lot of undeserved attention. In my country it is called "cucumber season", when basically non-event will get lot of coverage because lack of other events, usually during summer.
The migrant trawler has cynical, but simple explanation too. Refugee are coming to Europe since 2014. They are often behaving entitled towards Europeans, assaulting them, especially women and girls. Thus few of them drowning in the sea does not create any compassion in Europeans. It is ugly truth, but when my neighbor will be making my life living hell for years and then his house catches fire, I am not going to feel compassion either.
I don't want to sound like an unhinged Tea Party loon, but what about Benghazi? The instability from which the migrants are running away from was fanned by European policies.
It's pure racism. At least in my sourthern european corner, I keep hearing screeds about low birth rates, how rural lands are empty, turning into deserts, but then thousands and thousands of people are willing to pay thousands of euros to move to Europe and there are no legal options. At the same time, Russian oligarchs can claim to be descendant of 16th century Jews expelled by the king and they get a passport, or just buy overpriced real estate and you are automatically a national.
Just undercut the criminals! They charge 5k for the trip? Sell a work permit and a plane ticket for the same amount of money.
A key tenet of international law is that collective punishment is prohibited and criminal responsibility can only be attributed to individuals. Freedom of movement, presumption of innocence, and respect for basic human dignity are all part of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. It is not just to treat the non-criminals like they are criminals a priori. But, I will say, I can confirm that I have definitely also seen that sentiment of scapegoating on the rise.
Submarine got lot of undeserved attention. In my country it is called "cucumber season", when basically non-event will get lot of coverage because lack of other events, usually during summer.
The migrant trawler has cynical, but simple explanation too. Refugee are coming to Europe since 2014. They are often behaving entitled towards Europeans, assaulting them, especially women and girls. Thus few of them drowning in the sea does not create any compassion in Europeans. It is ugly truth, but when my neighbor will be making my life living hell for years and then his house catches fire, I am not going to feel compassion either.