Via MSF.org: Migration: A dangerous passage, an unsettled future. Click through for the full post, including several videos of individual refugees. Excerpt:
Since the start of 2015, more than 100,000 asylum seekers have crossed the Mediterranean from countries like Eritrea, Syria, Somalia and Yemen, united in their desire to escape from conflict, instability, persecution and limited access to humanitarian assistance.
There are many legal and illegal routes to Europe, but Libya is now the most popular transit point because it is politically unstable and has a long and open coastline. In a bid to seek asylum and a safer life, people are paying smugglers to ferry them across the Mediterranean in unsafe and overcrowded fishing boats.
In the first five months of 2015, more than 1,800 people have died, over five times as many as during the equivalent period last year.
Since May, MSF teams have begun responding to the crisis aboard three rescue vessels: the Phoenix (launched in May in partnership with MOAS), the Bourbon Argos (also launched in May) and Dignity 1 (launched in June).
MSF teams have assisted with more than 2,290 rescues so far.
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The world is facing the largest refugee crisis since World War II, while at the same time governments in Europe and beyond are unwilling to provide hospitality, protection and assistance to those who reach EU shores. It cannot go on. European Union states haave the means and the responsibility to scale up and maintain a robust search and rescue effort. This will prevent further death.
However, search and rescue efforts are not in themselves a solution, because people will continue to risk their lives in the hands of smugglers for as long as there are no safe alternatives to seek asylum in the European Union. European Union governments must take their fair share of responsibility for hosting the massive numbers of refugees who are fleeing conflict today.
