Hate speech has silenced the voices of those risking death on Europe's seas | Regina Catrambone

Lack of empathy has dehumanised people fleeing war and hunger. We must look past statistics and listen to their stories

According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), at least 1,778 people have perished this year in the attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea, the world’s deadliest migratory route. But European political leaders rarely mention this figure as they celebrate the results of their current migration policies. This is the highest percentage of fatalities ever recorded along this route.

Since last year, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers have been represented increasingly as numbers, their ordeals under-reported or minimised, their lives used as statistics, not flesh and blood. But when the official narrative is limited to numbers and figures, people disappear.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2QOWZl6
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