Actions speak louder than words on migrants

Some commentators suggest that illegal migration is “a class issue’ that doesn’t impact on any other than the poorer classes in host countries. Surely this persiflage grossly distorts reality and the consequences of what is unfolding and threatened.

A total of 276,113 migrants entered the EU irregularly last year. This was an increase of 138% compared to 2013 and the EU Commission advise that most of these migrants had recourse to criminal networks of smugglers at extortionate personal cost.

Migrant smuggling is a massive criminal activity that is growing at an unprecedented scale and intensity. Around 3,000 migrants are estimated to have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea in 2014 (UNCHR, 2015). The EU Commission advise that the ruthlessness of people smugglers, whom we have seen expose migrants to life-threatening risks and violence, requires “a strong response”.