|
Germany Urges EU Operation against People Smugglers
[AnNahar] Germany's vice chancellor on Sunday called for European action against human traffickers after a refugee boat shipwreck in the Mediterranean was feared to have claimed 700 lives."All European police and border authorities must make every possible effort to fight the criminal trafficking gangs who profit from human misery," said Sigmar Gabriel. "We need an international operation against people smugglers." Gabriel spoke after the overnight capsize of a packed fishing boat that was attempting to smuggle hundreds of migrants from Libya to Italia. "We must no longer accept that Europe on its outer borders too often means death, not humanity," he said. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said a Europol team was already looking at the trafficking gangs, because we must "not tolerate that these criminals sacrifice human lives en masse out of sheer greed." Germany's integration commissioner Aydan Ozoguz said it had been an "illusion" to think that ending the "Mare Nostrum" sea rescue program would deter people from attempting the perilous sea journey. She said warmer temperatures in coming weeks could mean more refugee ships and that "that's why we must relaunch the rescue program." Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said part of the answer would have to be "to try to bring more stability to Libya" to help the North African country crack down on traffickers. Illegal immigration, mostly from Africa, has rapidly expanded with ruthless people smugglers based in chaotic Libya taking overcrowded, unseaworthy boats across the Mediterranean, mostly to Italia and Greece. Southern EU countries have complained that they are bearing too much of the brunt of the rescue work and processing of migrants. The latest shipwreck took place between Libya and Malta and, if the toll is confirmed, would be easily the biggest such disaster to date. Moroccan Asylum Seeker Sets Himself on Fire on German Street [AnNahar] A Moroccan man who was denied political asylum in Germany suffered severe burns when he doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire in front of shocked passers-by, police said Sunday. The 36-year-old man had announced his suicide attempt in a phone call to police, ahead of his scheduled deportation Monday by German authorities. When he set himself ablaze Saturday evening, people on the street tried to help douse the flames before police put them out with a fire extinguisher. The man was taken with severe burns to a hospital in the town of Lingen, Lower Saxony state, and then moved by helicopter to a specialist burns unit in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Germany, Europe's most populous country, has become Europe's top destination for asylum seekers. Last year, asylum requests rose 60 percent to more than 200,000, and they are expect to increase further this year. Posted by: trailing wife 2015-04-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=415540 |