The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow

to kill the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.

But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.

Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;

for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. (ps 37:14-16)

Europe has a lot of experience in killing dark-skinned people, and this has by no means ceased. The Mediterranean Sea is a giant graveyard, where 2000 people have been killed just this year, and 25,000 the last 20 years. These are refugees, fleeing from war-torn countries like Syria or impoverished economies like Libya. Italy has had a rescue mission called Mare Nostrum which has saved countless lives that otherwise would have perished, but it has now ended. Instead, the European Union’s border police Frontex will start a mission called Triton, but it will have a much smaller budget than Mare Nostrum and not be allowed to go as far as the Italian operation could.

Just as Italy halted the Mare Nostrum mission, the British government decided to stop its funding of rescue missions in Mediterranean. They will only provide one “debriefer” to Triton. The reason is that they think that the rescue operation is a “pull factor” that gives more refugees incentives to come to Europe.

The Guardian rightly calls this “an outrageous and immoral act. It suggests a government so alarmed by Ukip that it has lost all sense of proportion. The Italian-funded Mare Nostrum exercise, mobilised after 300 refugees drowned off Lampedusa a year ago, has saved thousands of lives.”

Likewise, Amnesty says:

“This is a very dark day for the moral standing of the UK. When the hour came, the UK turned its back on despairing people and left them to drown… The vague prospect of rescue has never been the incentive. War, poverty and persecution are what make desperate people take terrible risks. History will judge this decision as unforgiveable.”

I totally agree. Italy, the UK and other European nations are brutally refusing to save the lives of innocent people. It is an atrocity, the most brutal of sins, and it is the duty of all people who call themselves moral to protest against this horrible decision.

The reason that poor people pay smugglers to travel in extremely dangerous boats is that it is illegal for them to buy a simple plane or boat ticket. See, Americans or Australians can in most cases trave to Europe a they like to, but not Syrians or Libyans, since it is illegal to travel to European countries with the purpose to seek asylum. This is why the European Union has only received 4% of all Syrians fleeing from the deadly war. Only those who travel to Europe illegally, like on boats over the mediterranean, have a chance to apply for asylum – even though seeking asylum is a human right!

Refusing to save lives in the Mediterranean will not cause refugees to stop travelling in dangerous boats, just like refusing to treat lung cancer won’t stop people from smoking, or refusing to save the lives of victims of sky diving accidents won’t stop sky diving. Refusing to save the lives of people who almost drown when fleeing war, persecution and poverty, won’t stop people fleeing from war, persecution and poverty. We have to realize that Europeans must make sacrifices – we’re oppressing the poor and destroying the environment with our wealthy, filthy lifestyle. We have to share God’s resources and bless the poor with them instead of having a lifestyle that most people only can dream of. We must make it legal for refugees to come to Europe, and stop killing them for God’s sake!