Africans should not be dying at sea as they flee home

Editor,Please allow me to share my comments about Joe B. Jakes’s article, “Deaths at the Sea: the new middle passage for Africans?”, published in The New Times on October 14.The author is totally right. It is actually absurd to see many Africans dying in the name of reaching Europe. The number over the last 3 years is alarming. Each time there is an African Union summit, the leaders focus on the economy, conflict and peace related issues. But whose economies, whose conflicts and whose peace are they discussing?As we all know, it’s the same people who are hungry, same people fleeing and same people committing suicide at seas. The issues raised in this article should be taken seriously at highest level of African leaders. I sincerely thank The New Times for bringing into fore the forgotten topic.Janet, Kigali,Rwanda******************************It’s the bare truth that some of the leaders in Africa are busy doing other things while their citizens are drowning at the sea looking for greener pastures and security in Europe. The author is right in suggesting that this could be likened to the middle passage in which Africans lost their lives when being taken into slavery.You also mentioned the “unforgiving Europe” – that’s exactly true because even those who reach there find themselves locked up in chains like slaves, and living in miserable, inhuman conditions with no right to work, etc...Many are imprisoned and others are shot and killed by gangs before they even cross to Europe. Where has the common sense gone for Africans in 2013?Ichukwu, Abuja, Nigeria

Opinions

Africans should not be dying at sea as they flee home