Dead immigrants don’t exist

Nebahat Albayrak, Dutch State Secretary for Justice, wants the EU to register the number of immigrants dying every year en route to Europe, announces NRC Handelsblad. The Dutch daily explains that immigrants who don’t make it alive “don’t exist” as matters stand. “Not a single European government makes an effort to find out their names or how many die every year at the gates to Fortress Europe.” A situation Albayrak finds “staggering”. According to the daily, only NGOs keep statistics, like United against Racism, which estimates over 13,000 have perished since 1994, by drowning or exhaustion or in catastrophes like the exploding landmines along Greek-Turkish borders. The families often try in vain to repatriate the bodies. According to an Afghan who has been living illegally on the island of Lesbos for seven years now, “Repatriation costs thousands of euros, and European embassies in Afghanistan don’t give visas to their families so they can pay their last respects to the victims."