Some of my best childhood memories take me back to the Mediterranean Sea. I remember how as a child my mother would take me to Birzebbuga Bay and I'd spend countless hours in the warm, turquoise waters playing with my red miniature makeshift ferry boat, shuttling Playmobile figures to imaginary destinations. In all my imaginary trips, those passengers always made it safe and sound to their destination. While my head wondered in the sheltered confines of that bay, I felt just like those Playmobile figures; I was out of harms way.
Just like me, the immigrants who sat sail from Africa use makeshift boats, but they're long haul voyages aren't imaginary. And they get to see a much different side of the Mediterranean: it's dark, it's freezing, it's savagely rough.
Yet every week, refugees mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa, pay large sums of money in search of the greener pastures in Europe. But sadly, many of those frail vessels end up capsizing. Many immigrants have been rescued, but many others perish in the Mediterranean. Just imagine, only last night around 600 immigrants lost their lives off the coast of Libya. 600 bodies, including those of women and children dispersed in the vast waters of the Mediterranean. CNN estimates that only this year 1500 people have drowned in the Mediterranean.
The EU says that this matter needs to be tackled at its root, and many unwittingly-some knowingly- claim that the root cause is Libya's unstable government. If the government was legitimate, they say, there would be no boats leaving Libya in the first place. But that's only the tip of the iceberg: what many forget is that for decades Africa has been crippled by unfair subsidies and tariffs, aid has been ineffective, and most importantly, when the colonialists divided their priced toy-continent in the 19th and 20th century, they didn't take into consideration the ethnic and cultural divisions that they were subjecting the new states to. The fact is that, after its colonization, Africa was never really put into the condition to thrive as a continent. And that's on all of us.
There's a graveyard on Europe's doorstep, but many are turning a blind eye. We're all bystanders and just because we don't get to see the bodies of the sunken ones, it doesn't mean they're not there. So I cannot but think of those thousands of people who have perished in the inclement sea and whose stories have perished with.
Mr. Bon, when my mom told me about this tragedy I truly couldn't believe it. We live in a world that has evolved so quickly and we can't still prevent this incidents that cost the life of thousands. Having in mind there are children, women and whole families that just "disappear" and we never find out. Moreover, we wait for the death of 600 immigrants to start thinking about it and maybe take action. I really like that you reflected on a topic that is really recent. Starting with a small "story" (anecdote) attracted my attention immediately. Also, that screenshot has a powerful method using the technique of comparison (now vs WWII). Something that I would change is the title. It is great that you write "There's a graveyard at Europe's doorstep..." at the end. But it is difficult to make the connection from the first paragraphs with the title. The word "inclement" is very well used and fits perfectly with the content. Thank you for sharing!
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