Something To Think About.

[the_great_she_elephant]

Italy mourns after scores of African migrants die in boat sinking off island of Lampedusa

Italy has declared a national day of mourning after a boat packed with African migrants caught fire and sank off the island of Lampedusa, killing at least 130 people. 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-04/italy-delcares-national--mourning-migrant-boat-sinking-lampedu...

No pointing of fingers, no suggestion thatf "it was their own fault' or 'they knew the risks' just a coming together in a national outpouring of grief  in a country which has a bigger problem with asylum seekers than we do.

Thank you Italy - you put us to shame.

[freshwater-2]

I have always found Italy 'relaxed' about immigrants, whether regular migrants or temporary/permanent refugees.

They have been invaded so many times throughout history....but remain wonderfully Italian and retain their culture..

I have seen the Rome outer city parks with Albanians, Bosnians, etc setting up micro towns during different times of crisis.

Italians just roll with it

The only time I have seen Italian protests in the streets was in relation to slaughtering methods by some.

Other than that I have never personally witnessed any aggravation towards refugees.

Yes, we can certainly learn something from them. 

[*ibis]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/how-the-arab-spring-put-lampedusa-in-the-path-of-a-torrent...

[izabsmiling]

TGSE, I've noted the difference between here and there and it has had even more of an impact which I can't put into words.Shame  isn't quite enough and doesn't express it all.

How is it that I can get the vibe that it may be considered unacceptable .. to offer/express words of comfort as I would for any tragic loss of human life  ?

[**meep**]

No pointing of fingers???

There have been accusations of Italy's Coast Guard not launching official rescue due ot beaurocratic delays.

I'm surprised you haven't heard/seen this being discussed in political context as well.  It didnt take long at all for the usual  blame game to begin. 

 http://africasacountry.com/what-the-italian-press-said-about-lampedusa/

Will the latest migration tragedy off the Italian coast trigger any change in the EU's migration and refugee policies?

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/

The survivors are to be placed under investigation for "clandestine immigration", as provided for by a controversial immigration law pushed through by right-wing parties in 2002.

Row in Italy over deaths.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24413010

Unfortunately,  discussions, reactions, responses in political context seem to be unavoidable.  They are not limited to Australia.

'

[the_great_she_elephant]

No pointing of fingers???

There have been accusations of Italy's Coast Guard not launching official rescue due ot beaurocratic delays.

I'm surprised you haven't heard/seen this being discussed in political context as well.  It didnt take long at all for the usual  blame game to begin. 

Perhaps, but a NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING dosen't entail any of this.  

[izabsmiling]

We (including our Prime Minister) didn't do very much at all which would indicate that we as human beings 

were able to appreciate the human aspect to the loss of lives of those men,women and children.

That is our shame imo Meep

[**meep**]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

Perhaps, but a NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING dosen't entail any of this.  

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maybe it does because the announcement  has already been criticised as hypocritical.  do you know why?

[i-once-was-bump]

Italy are just like Indonesia and let the asylum seekers get into trucks to try to get to Britain and the Italians do nothing to stop a lot of those hiding in trucks from dying.

[**meep**]

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@izabsmiling wrote:

TGSE, I've noted the difference between here and there and it has had even more of an impact which I can't put into words.Shame  isn't quite enough and doesn't express it all.

How is it that I can get the vibe that it may be considered unacceptable .. to offer/express words of comfort as I would for any tragic loss of human life  ?

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You have noted the difference between here and there?   You have the benefit of being in communication with people who live in Europe and seeing it from their perspective?   I would be very interested to learn more from you about that.