600 people drowned. Consider that figure for a moment. Officially 78 people are dead and 500 people are missing, but after a week, it's safe to say that those 500 are lost as well.
Meanwhile, 5 people are missing in a submarine that was lost near the wreckage of the Titanic. I bet you heard about that, right?
Consider this article: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/syria-migrants-boat-sinking-titanic-submersive-missing-rcna90336
“The willingness to allow certain people to die while every effort is made to save others ... it’s a, you know, really dark reflection on humanity.”
While media attention is focused on the missing 5 wealthy people in the submersible, there is very little coverage of a wreckage in the Mediterranean that claimed the lives of 600 migrants. I use the word migrant here, because that's how they're described in the media, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out that those who died are more than just migrants. They are human beings, men, women, and children who were traveling to Europe for a better life for themselves and their families.
How many hopes and dreams were extinguished in the shipwreck last week? Imagine if you and your children were forced to flee your home country. You could have been in their place.
Yet we are willing to let them die and not demand accountability and action. It is said that some of the smugglers have been arrested and will be tried for this tragedy. They certainly hold much of the blame. The real criminals, however, are the people in government who have created the smuggling industry by failing to provide safe and legal access to asylum seekers as they cross into Europe. The long and short of it is, we would rather watch children drown than welcome people with different languages and skin colours into our countries.
Almost 100 of the poorest, most vulnerable people are confirmed dead, with 500 more missing.
And we're spending our resources on and giving media attention to 5 wealthy people lost in a submarine.
Sometimes I have no hope for humanity's future.
Thanks for your thoughtful and challenging posts! Keep up the work of being voice for the voiceless in Calais and around the world! Has anyone from Neffsville Mennonite church In Lancaste, PA connectEd with you about coming to volunteer and be changed? How large of a group of people could you handle there for accommodations and service opportunities? Thanks for considering. You can connect with me at philhostetter@juno.com.