Europe is currently in the midst of a serious migrant crisis, people fleeing their home country’s horrible living conditions and making increasingly desperate attempts to find a better life.

We brought you some photos that capture the desperation back in September of last year (HERE), including that photo above.

More recently, the world was stunned by the video of a child removed from the rubble in the Syrian city of Aleppo (HERE), a sobering reminder of how dire things are for those who call the country home.

Now BusinessInsider have put together a collection of photos showing boats, mostly from war-torn Eritrea, attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Why flee Eritrea?

Eritrea’s government is reputed to be a repressive regime “where individuals are routinely arbitrarily arrested and detained, tortured, disappeared or extrajudicially executed,” according to a UN Human Rights Council report.

Strap yourselves in, this is going to be a bumpy ride:

Around 800 migrants were rescued that day by members of Proactiva Open Arms, a nongovernmental organization [sic].

Migrants were rescued from this burning dinghy on August 28 by an Italian navy vessel as they moved toward the Italian coast.

On one day in April 2015, 400 people drowned in the Mediterranean after fleeing their homes in an attempt to reach Europe.

Tamiem Azim, a 7-year-old Syrian boy who was rescued from a sinking boat, cried while sitting aboard a rescue boat on August 18. Azim’s mother and 2-year-old sister, Tasneen, both died on that day when the boat carrying them sank.

In this photo dated July 28, 11-year-old Dustin, right, from Nigeria, who said her mother died in Libya, cries next to her 10-year-old brother aboard a rescue boat.

Some politicians would have you believe these boats are full to the brim with terrorists eager to wreak havoc, but some politicians would be full to the brim with shit.

Funny how certain people who resettle somewhere else are called expats, whereas others forever carry the tag ‘immigrant’.

[source:businessinsider]