Crisis of our time - Resolving the refugee disaster

IT may seem far-fetched to suggest that it is only a matter of time before refugees who have thrown themselves on the tender mercies of people traffickers arrive on our shores but the fact that two British men have been remanded in custody charged with immigration offences after 18 Albanians were rescued from a sinking boat in the English Channel suggests otherwise.

People trafficking, or more accurately refugee trafficking, has become a lucrative but criminal business exploiting the most vulnerable — often demanding what is left of their worldly goods for a berth in an unsafe vessel that may or may not reach a specified destination.

Just this weekend the UN refugee agency said it believed that 700 people had drowned over three days last week while trying to reach Europe.

This is the challenge of our age and it will take billions, considerable goodwill, tolerance and great political skill to resolve. Resolving it also means confronting the conditions that provoke such desperation in the refugees’ home countries.