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There are humans everywhere but no humanity

The truth is that war is awful and often pushes people to do all kinds of horrible things.

The distressful picture of a dead Syrian refugee child washed ashore on a Turkish beach resort was splashed across the front pages of international papers - for 'shock value'. In situations of extreme adversity it is the last weapon journalists wield. The world must know, we reckon, that however awful the impact of the image may be, we must stare at the sheer wickedness and then stare at ourselves and ask: This child of nobody could be my child. Our child. How can we claim to be civilised and cultured and post-modern and not be moved by the heartlessness of it all?
There must be something - something really awful - that prompts very many forlorn, desperate, war-ravaged people to leave everything behind and get on rickety dinghes. It is, most probably, that 'base' human attitude called hope. When families run away from their roots and abandon their homes with nothing but feeble faith in their hearts, the world owes them a debt. It is simply criminal to forsake those on the run. Of course, those who take these perilous journeys know the dangers that lurk but there is little else they can do. They get on creaky boats, thinking that where there are humans, there must be humanity. Alas, there are humans everywhere but no humanity -the tragedy of the times we live in.
A raging debate on the refugee crisis ensues. There are nations that have closed their borders to refugees fleeing war and years of turmoil. Barbed wire is coming up across Europe to keep the hordes out. Yes, there are international conventions and declarations and covenants in place - overseen by the UN et al - that protect the rights of refugees but suddenly none of that seems to apply. Several nations have given up on the migrants with the exception of Germany that has displayed magnanimity. But the predicament of these oppressed people continues.
Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) clearly states, "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution." The UN categorically states in Article 33 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, that no state "shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion."
The truth is that war is awful and often pushes people to do all kinds of horrible things. Who, in his or her right mind, would pack his family in a reedy boat if it were not for threat to life or security in his or her own land? When they start rowing their boats, although the entire prospect is fraught with danger and death, a glimmer of hope, a faint belief, some obscure half-dream lingers. They see the Promised Land in their collective imagination.
It is a pity that those dreams, however impossible, are washed up on a sad shore.