Refugees drowning, governments stopping them

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This video from Greece says about itself:

Greece: Fisherman saves dozens of refugees stranded at sea off Lesbos

12 November 2015

There were jubilant scenes in Lesbos on Thursday evening, after local fisherman Skala Sikaminias saved dozens of refugees who were stranded in a dinghy three miles (4.8 kilometres) off shore.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

More refugees die as Merkel tells Ankara to stem the flow

Tuesday 9th February 2016

At least 27 drown in boat sinking off Lesbos

by Our Foreign Desk

TURKISH coastguard officials recovered the bodies of 27 refugees yesterday after a boat carrying them to the Greek island of Lesbos went down in the Bay of Edremit.

A search-and-rescue mission, backed by helicopters, was still under way for others reported missing. At least 11 of the victims were children, an official said.

The latest tragedy in the waters between Turkey and Greece happened as German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to discuss the refugee crisis.

She has made clear that she, in common with other EU leaders, wants Ankara to reduce the influx of refugees to Europe.

In her weekly video message on Saturday, Ms Merkel said that EU countries agree that the bloc needs to protect its external borders better and that is why she is seeking a solution with Turkey.

She added that, if Europe wants to prevent smuggling, “we must be prepared to take in quotas of refugees legally and bear our part of the task.

“I don’t think Europe can keep itself completely out of this,” she said.

The German and Turkish leaders agreed on a set of measures to halt the flow of refugees from Syria, including a joint diplomatic initiative to stop the current fighting around Aleppo.

Mr Davutoglu said that they would carry out “joint efforts” to increase Nato involvement in the refugee issue. They would seek the use of Nato observation capabilities at the border with Syria and in the Aegean Sea.

His deputy Yalcin Akdogan took issue with EU pressure on Turkey to open its border, accusing the bloc of giving his country lessons in morality without taking any responsibility itself.

“On the one hand, they say: ‘Open your borders, take everyone in’ and, on the other hand, they say: ‘Close your border, don’t let anyone through’.”

Despicable as the present Turkish government is: on this issue Yalcin Akdogan is correct in pointing out European politicians’ hypocrisy. Like, as this blog said before, a broken clock indicating the correct time twice a day.

Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared that migration into Europe “must be stopped” and reiterated his call for a “European defence line” on the northern borders of Greece to end the influx of people.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, a fellow conservative, agreed, insisting that “the migration issue has to be solved basically outside the EU borders.”

Hungary’s right-wing government plans to introduce far-reaching emergency powers. Under the pretext of combating terrorism and deterring refugees, which in official propaganda are one and the same thing, the government plans to grant itself dictatorial powers enabling it to suppress all social and political opposition: here.

Turkey must open its doors to the thousands of Syrians who have massed at the border after fleeing violence, the United Nations demanded Tuesday: here.

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