(ANS - Rome) - "They are men and women like us, our brothers and sisters who are seeking a better life ... hungry, persecuted, injured, exploited, victims of war, seeking a better life. They are looking for happiness ... I invite you to pray in silence, first, and then all together for these brothers and sisters." This is what Pope Francis said yesterday, Sunday 19 April, immediately after the Regina Coeli, commenting on yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean waters.

A large boat full of migrants capsized in the night between Saturday and Sunday about 60 miles off the Libyan coast. The number of victims is still uncertain, but it is feared there are hundreds, maybe even 900.

"I express my deepest sorrow in the face of such a tragedy and promise to remember the missing people and their families in my prayer. I address a heartfelt appeal to the international community to act decisively and promptly, to prevent such tragedies occurring again" the Pope said, thus renewing his warning against the" globalization of indifference" which he denounced for the first time in Lampedusa, in the Mediterranean Sea, during his first apostolic journey. That was on 8 July 2013, and since then the numbers of victims have increased, with about 1,600 deaths since the beginning of this year.

Fr Mussie Zerai, is Director of Habeshia, an Agency for Cooperation for Development, which specializes in disseminating news and information on the condition of migrants. He has spoken of "an undeclared war of the European Union, the Nobel Prize for Peace."

"The refusal of the European Union to put in place a programme equivalent to Mare Nostrum (rescue mission of ​​migrants carried out by Italian naval forces between 2013 and 2014 - Editor) is a clear declaration of war against migrants and refugees. Letting them die at sea is a passive way of fighting a war they do not want to declare. "

Fr Zerai says in the first place that "these victims are on the conscience of those criminals who put their lives in jeopardy" but he also criticizes the complicity "of European politics and finance" which refuses to put human life before everything else, "to the point of pretending not to see that the Mediterranean is dyed red with the blood of thousands of innocent people."

"Words are not enough nor the tears of some pious souls. Action is needed and concrete responses to protect and prevent these tragedies" Fr Zerai concludes.

Published 20/04/2015