The tragedy seems endless. Hundreds more migrants have perished in the Mediterranean. They have been among some ten thousand who have set off from the Libyan coast in the past seven days. The latest death toll came when a decrepit vessel crowded with 550 illegal migrants capsized even as Italian rescue boats approached. Survivors report that in their excitement passengers crowded to one side of the boat and it turned turtle. At least 400 drowned. This carnage tops the 366 refugees who perished when their craft smashed into rocks off the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Europeans are wringing their hands at this tidal wave of refugees, distraught both at the death toll and the massive influx of illegal migrants, the great majority of whom are being housed in camps in Italy and Malta. Nobody seems to know what to do nor indeed who to blame. Is it the countries from which the migrants come seeking security and prosperity in a wealthy Europe? Many of the refugees are from countries torn apart by conflict, not least Syria, Somalia, Mali and Chad. But there are also economic migrants leaving poor sub-Saharan countries in the hope of finding a better life. Are these political and economic migrants to blame for their decision to try and escape their wretched circumstances? Then it must be wondered how much blame attaches to the people smugglers themselves. In Libya, there is a network of different gangs, many of them including nationals from some of the countries from which the traffickers are drawing their custom. Getting the migrants across the border is a logistical rather than a security challenge. Government frontier patrols are nonexistent and the local militias which have taken it upon themselves to guard their areas are easily bribed, if they are not in fact also actually part of the smuggling network. Typically the gangs will take their human cargo from the border to a southern town such as Sebha and Kufra where the migrants will be housed in insanitary camps waiting for the next set of smugglers to take them up to the Libyan coast. This is far from the smooth process it might seem. The migrants are abused. Rape is not uncommon. They are kept in filthy conditions. Beatings and deaths occur regularly. There are also demands for fresh money. Refugees who thought they had already paid for the whole trip discover that they cannot go further unless relatives at home wire more money through Western Union. Those who cannot raise the cash are abandoned or even shot out of hand. And finally the criminals play their last and most odious trick. The migrants are sent from the coast in overcrowded unseaworthy fishing boats and rubber dinghies. One such vessel last week had only a few liters of fuel. The Europeans are in a bind. Their Frontex border mission is nominally supposed to keep illegals out. But the humanitarian sea rescues that are being conducted in ever greater numbers actually constitute nothing so much as a welcoming committee. Why should the Libyan smugglers bother with decently equipped boats when they know that desperate migrants will be picked up by Frontex patrols, even inside Libyan waters? The end to this tragic trade will only come when Libya becomes a stable state governed by law with proper policing and security. Because that day still seems far off, the slaughter at sea only seems set to continue.
