UNITED NATIONS — A surge of people, many of them fleeing war, are risking their lives to find sanctuary by sea, the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday, rebuking governments that sought to keep out foreigners looking for asylum. Since the beginning of this year, at least 348,000 people have crossed seas — or died trying — the agency said in a report, with data compiled from coastal authorities around the world. Nearly two-thirds of the refugees sailed across the Mediterranean en route to Europe, which the agency said was a marked increase from previous years. The agency did not say how many were fleeing poverty versus how many were trying to escape persecution — the grounds for political asylum. However, nearly half of those who reached Europe were fleeing war and political turmoil; Syrians and Eritreans were the two largest nationalities among those who sailed to Europe. Others were sailing across the Gulf of Aden, fleeing Ethiopia and Somalia as they tried to make their way to the wealthy countries of the Persian Gulf; the United Nations estimated that more than 82,000 people had taken that route this year. Another 54,000, the agency said, left Bangladesh and Myanmar on their way to countries in Southeast Asia like Malaysia and Thailand. The agency said at least 4,272 died on the way, the vast majority in the Mediterranean. The surge of boat people comes amid political instability in countries like Libya and Somalia and a grinding four years of war in Syria. The refugees face growing anti-foreigner sentiment in European capitals. Italy said this year that it would phase out an innovative but expensive search-and-rescue program after it was left to largely pick up the tab. Britain, for instance, has said it would not contribute to the program, calling it a “pull” factor for migrants. The numbers were released on the eve of an international conference in Geneva hosted by the high commissioner for refugees, António Guterres, to discuss the protection of migrants at sea. He accused some governments of trying to keep out foreigners at the expense of their obligation to receive those seeking political asylum. “This is a mistake, and precisely the wrong reaction for an era in which record numbers of people are fleeing wars,” Mr. Guterres said, adding that “policies must be designed in a way that human lives do not end up becoming collateral damage.” nytimes/2014/12/11/world/un-agency-reports-more-refugees-on-the-sea-and-fewer-welcome-shores.html?_r=0
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 19:36:33 +0000
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