400 Migrants Drown in the Mediterranean—Imperialist Hypocrisy and the Imperialist Death Trap
April 20, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader:
It is an outrage. It is human suffering writ large. It is the death trap that is imperialism. 400 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea last weekend after their boat capsized. They were fleeing North Africa and seeking refuge in Italy. In 2014 alone, 3,200 migrants from Libya, Syria, and parts of Africa died making the horrific crossing to Western Europe. The Western governments and BBC and CNN blame traffickers for poorly equipping boats, for coercing refugees, for abandoning ships. As though it all started with the boats!
Migrants from North Africa rescued from a capsized boat arrive in Italy, April 13, 2015. Photo: AP
But who are the refugees and why have they have become refugees? They are the victims of imperialism. Of the fact that the U.S. and the Western imperialist powers have turned North Africa, the Middle East, and great stretches of Africa into killing zones and regions of chaos. These refugees are the victims of the illegal, unjust, and murderous wars waged by the U.S. and West European imperialists over the last two decades to overthrow regimes in Iraq, Syria, and Libya. These refugees are the victims of the strangulating economic adjustment programs and the civil wars that the Western powers have fueled and provided weapons for in Africa.
Don’t tell me about the abuses of traffickers... and, please, enough of your imperialist crocodile tears. You have now turned the Mediterranean Sea into a ghastly tomb.
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