UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has called on Western countries, including the UK, to be more accepting of refugees from Syria’s ongoing civil war.
The scale of this latest tragedy is unprecedented: at least 94 people have died and hundreds are missing after an overcrowded boat carrying some 500 people caught fire and sank off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy, early Thursday morning. Some 140 people have been rescued and the search continues for more survivors even as hope fades.
Divers have been searching the wreck of the boat that was carrying around 500 African migrants to Europe but sank off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday.
Whilst the EU has committed US$1.75 billion to relief efforts in and around Syria, making it the largest international donor, it has shown little solidarity with countries like Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, in terms of helping to shoulder an increasingly unmanageable refugee burden.
Aid agencies responding to the Syrian crisis are updating contingency plans and pre-positioning stocks, warning that any US-led military action against Syria could lead to an increase in humanitarian needs.