Who is sinking migrant boats? Controversy as 20,000 Africans drown off Italian coast

Story One: On October 4^th, a boat capsized in the area killing 300 people including hundreds of children.

The boat - which set sail from the Libyan port of Misrata ran into difficulty close to the coast of Italy. Some of those on board then reportedly set fire to a piece of material to try to attract the attention
of passing ships, only to have the fire spread to the rest of the boat.

The boat , people claim capsized when everyone moved to one side.

Story Two:  This morning, a 20m (66ft) boat carrying some 500 people - mostly from Eritrea and Somalia - was approaching Lampedusa early on Thursday when it began taking on water its motor stopped working.

Reasons why Africans smell a fish:

The question is : Are some people sinking these boats?

Rescuers have reported that Italy's coastguard was slow to respond to the sinking of a boat carrying the African migrants off the island of Lampedusa on Thursday.

The fisherman who arrived first at the site of the accident, Vito Fiorino, has accused the coastguard of wasting time by filming footage of rescue efforts.

"They refused to take on board some people we'd already saved because they said protocol forbade it," he was quoted as saying by Ansa news agency.

They also said that three fishermen drove straight past the scene of the accident.

A report in local newspaper La Sicilia said two boats belonging to Italy's Financial Guard, which carries out a range of police and rescue duties, had remained in port.

Furthermore, they say the migrants had almost made it to the coast, sinking just 800m away.

The accusations were made by a fisherman who took part in the rescue and a local newspaper.

More reports have been made of locals not willing to help migrants in distress.

The Italian government say the journey is risky journey; however, hundreds of boats make similar trips every day.

News reports call the disaster a European tragedy but most Europeans are showing very little or no compassion. Plus, Europeans are overwhelmingly hostile to any increase in the number of migrants

British magazine the Spectator reports that would-be migrants to Europe perish regularly in the waters off north Africa, as many as 20,000 so far this year. The magazine states that many, of these boats have actually been forced away from the Italian coast by border officials and forced to remain in international waters .

So far, 111 bodies have been recovered, and 155 people survived, hundreds are still unaccounted for.

A total of 600 people have died in the last seven days and this week's shipwreck is among the deadliest on record.

The boat sinks with hundreds of victims