Italy Bears Brunt of EU's Immigration Crisis

Globe and Mail reports: In what could be one of the worst tragedies since the exodus began in January, a boat carrying as many as 300 migrants from Libya capsized early Wednesday in rough seas about 65 kilometres off Lampedusa. Rescuers picked up about 50 people; 250 more remained unaccounted for as night fell. Under European law, the country in which the migrants arrive is responsible for determining their legal status. That means Italy has born the brunt of what Mr. Berlusconi has called a “human tsunami.” One member of the migrant wave was Rezene Kifle, a 30-year-old Eritrean with thick curly hair and a friendly manner who has spent much of his adult life looking for a new home. His first stop was Sudan. Then he crossed the Libyan border, only, he said, to be imprisoned for six months. A payment of $1,000 (U.S.) to the guards secured his freedom. For three years, he did odd jobs in Libya and was miserable. “The Libyans, they don’t like black people,” he said. “They robbed you in your house at night. Sometimes we couldn’t get food. Even bread was hard to get.”