4,000 refugees believed drowned at sea every year

[G_j]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5035277-103601,00.html

4,000 refugees believed drowned at sea every year

Owen Bowcott
Saturday October 9, 2004

The Guardian

Up to 4,000 asylum seekers drown at sea every year as they flee persecution or poverty, according to newly published British research.

Fear of terrorism and public scares about mass migration have led to more vigilant coastal patrols and an international climate that discourages captains from stopping to help small boats in distress, says Professor Michael Pugh of Plymouth University.

His figures derive from interviews with refugees, records of bodies washed up on shores, wrecks and government statistics.

They suggest that about 2,000 people perish annually in the Mediterranean trying to reach prosperous European states. A similar number are thought to die on crossings to Australia and the United States - the two other main destinations for boat people.

..more..

[GHOSTDANCER]

1. Wouldn't these deaths classify as terrorism?

I mean isn't it sanctions imposed by none other then the "West" on those countries creating these refugees to flee? The world gets a 9/11 every year by the greatest terrorist infustruction on the planet. Western Religion

I realise it isn't clear cut murder but wouldn't it classify as some kind of manslaughter?