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Act now to stem human exodus

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has rightly called for a 'collective political response' to avert a catastrophe in the making.

Deaths of migrants on such a large scale in recent days should act as an eye-opener to deal with the crisis on an emergent basis. What is needed at the outset is a strategy to stem the outflow of migrants from Asia and Africa and at the same time address the root causes that make them risk their lives. The prime reasons for this diaspora, which is resulting in disaster before the destitute souls could reach the greener pastures of Europe, are rampant poverty, lack of economic opportunities back home and last but not the least the war in Syria. A large number of people undertaking these arduous and dangerous journeys are refugees from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has rightly called for a 'collective political response' to avert a catastrophe in the making. It is not merely Europe's problem, which has not been able to effectively tackle the exodus, but also that of the developing countries who have failed to make use of their indigenous resources and human capital for a better tomorrow. That is why it is indispensable to expand safe and legal channels of migration along with a zero-tolerance approach towards those who venture into the high seas. The least that Europe can do is to make it categorically clear that even the lucky ones who manage to make it to the prosperous continent will be shunted back. This will obviously act as a deterrent and come as a blow to human-traffickers. The increase in the number of asylum-seekers across Europe - and those put in the makeshift border camps - has brought immense socio-economic burden on the authorities concerned.
A coordinated global response is required to save the precious lives by resolving conflicts and facilitating the refugees, who have little choice but to flee their homelands. It's time to act on both sides of the shores to end this madness of migration.