European Union must take 'drastic' action to save immigrants after tragedies at sea: Cardinal Marx
April 21, 2015
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, speaking in his capacity as president of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), has called for action by the European Union in the face of the “human catastrophe” of immigrants dying in the Mediterranean as they seek to reach Europe.
Calling for “drastic measures” in response to a week of tragedies in which over 1,000 migrants have died, the German prelate suggested a restoration of the “Mare Nostrum” initiative, in which European ships stood ready to help distressed vessels carrying migrants. He urged that European leaders establish common policies for accepting migrants and petitions for asylum.
“It is clear that the EU attracts refugees,” Cardinal Marx said, and “it is also clear that traffickers exploit the willingness of EU border control to rescue their victims, and it is regrettable that sufficient action is not being taken in their countries of origin to counter the reasons which make them feel they must leave. But all this does not justify us in ignoring the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the Mediterranean and which the European Union is facing.”
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