It’s numbing that hundreds of migrants dying as they cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe barely touches global attention nor evoke revulsion.
The latest such morbid statistics were last Thursday when 150 migrants aboard an overcrowded rickety wooden fishing boat that was holding 300 against a capacity for 150, drowned off the Libyan coast.
Libya has become the departure point for thousands of people making suicidal attempts to flee to Europe from several countries, mostly from Africa.
There has been escalation in these maritime tragedies. Early this month, 50 migrants were bombed when one of the factions fighting for control of the increasingly lawless northern African country bombed a holding camp.
Regrettably, concerns by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees for a more humane approach in handling the plight of migrants have largely fallen on deaf ears. But there is also fatigue and sense of immunity regarding the plight of migrants.
Trigger factors for flight notwithstanding, several realities continue to conspire, compounding the plight of people fleeing their own countries to find succour elsewhere, notably Europe.
Africa must soul search; fractious wars, autocratic regimes and generally unbearable conditions compounded by stinging poverty leading to hopelessness. But there are those who hold false illusions and assume that life in Europe is rosy.
This group mostly acting out of ignorance and self-deception pay incredible amounts of money to human traffickers for the journey only for some to end up as slaves and prostitutes.
The African Union cannot continue sidestepping this tragedy. It’s essentially an African responsibility when her people are dehumanised and Africa must be part of the solution.
Europe has a moral obligation to promote Africa’s economic security through fair trade practices but this continent must also open space for accountable governance and security of her people.
With Europe drifting to the right and increasingly inward looking, their priorities have shifted. Africa must draw conclusions from the increasingly strident bellicose stance coming from Washington.
The conservative government in Italy, which is the prime target of migrants fleeing across the Mediterranean from Libya has drawn the red line. Libya is on the brink and is in no position to exercise control despite being at the heart of the theatre of the tragedy.
