Yesterday 14 more people died off the coast of Lampedusa, after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank off Europe's southern border. On Sunday, a further 36 migrants died on their way to Europe. Commenting on these events, Green leading candidate Ska Keller said,
"It is shameful that day after day migrants perish on their way to Europe. This must be a wake up call for the European Union to fundamentally change its migration policy. The EU has invested millions of euros into sealing off its borders and forces people seeking protection in the EU to take increasingly dangerous routes. We now have a common European asylum system. But we put up barriers to people who need protection. This insane policy must be reversed urgently. Instead of investing more and more resources into FRONTEX and pushing back refugees from the European borders, we need to build bridges for them to enter the European asylum system. We need to create procedures for their legal entry. Humanitarian visas would allow asylum seekers to travel on save and legal routes into the EU. This would significantly reduce the huge numbers engaging in risky sea crossings."
