No news has been more heartbreaking in recent memory than the tragic drowning of hundreds of asylum seekers in the Mediterranean over the weekend. Conservative estimates have put the number of dead at 900, some washed up ashore, some retrieved and many still lying at the bottom of the ocean. The images flashing on television screens of smashed up boats, desperate people, evil exploiters and angry waves are enough to break one’s heart and seriously question the western nations to which these migrants were travelling why they are not doing enough to curb this dangerous trend. The International Organisation for Migration has reported that as many as 1,750 people have drowned in the Mediterranean this year alone, a figure that is 30 times higher than last year’s. Many of the dead are women and children. The migrants are increasingly coming from a wider geographic area than in previous years with people escaping places like Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Asia, Iraq and Syria in the Middle East and Gambia, Mali and Somalia in Africa. As can be seen, the migrants are of two types: those escaping conflict and those seeking economic betterment. All these people want is a better life, far away from bombs, guns, poverty and deprivation. The events of this weekend — with reports continuously coming in of more boats smashing up in the same area — have been an eye opener for European leaders who now realise they have a crisis on their hands. EU foreign and interior ministers held a meeting on the issue in Luxemburg on Monday and forwarded a 10-point agenda, which includes increasing maritime patrol operations in the Mediterranean, capturing and destroying vessels used by smugglers to bring in human traffic, processing asylum applications, considering an emergency relocation mechanism and the like. It is appalling that only when the sheer numbers have become so overwhelming that leaders in Europe are contemplating a plan of action. Voices are being raised in Europe about how it cannot be complacent once again when it comes to human tragedies, no doubt a reference to Europe’s relative silence during the Holocaust. However, guilt is something that the entire western world should feel when it comes to the boat people who are a manifestation of the disastrous policies of the first world to intervene and start wars in other countries. These migrants are running away from the devastation wrought by the west. Europe, which is the destination of choice for asylum seekers, must do more to ensure their safety. How many more people must perish on the high seas? *