Erstellt am: 17. 4. 2015 - 15:31 Uhr

"The people smugglers laugh at Europe"

Reality Check: Migrant Crisis; Chinese journalist jailed; TTIP Protests; South Africa Violence; Vietnam Environment Protests.

Migrant Crisis

The migrant crisis in the Mediterranean is worsening, with 450 people drowning this week alone trying to reach the shores of Europe. Around 20,000 migrants have reached the Italian coast this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. That's fewer than arrived in the first four months of last year, but the number of deaths has risen almost nine-fold.

EPA/Pasquale Claudio Montana Lampo

Rescued migrants disembarking from an Italian Finance Guard vessel in Sicily.

According to the Greek coast guard, the number of undocumented migrants entering Greece by sea reached 10,445 people in the first quarter of 2015, compared to 2,863 people for the same period last year

In one of the latest developments, Italian police have detained 15 African men suspected of throwing Christians from a migrant boat in the Mediterranean. They were arrested on charges of murder motivated by religious hatred.

Andrea di Nicola, a lecturer at University of Trento in Italy and the author of “Confessions of a People Smuggler”, gave us his reaction to the latest developments:

South Africa Violence

South Africa has been hit by a wave of violence against immigrants in the past two weeks. People have been attacked in their homes, and shops and businesses looted. Thousands of immigrants have taken shelter in hastily erected camps surrounded by armed guards. Milton Nkosi reports from Johannesburg on the background and the reaction:

EPA/Filip Singer

China

Veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu has been sentenced to seven years in prison for leaking a Communist Party document, which details Party determination to clamp down on civil society and press freedom. Benjamin Ismail from the advocacy group Reporters without Borders explains why Gao Yu had been targeted:

TTIP Day of Action

Opponents of free trade deals, such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a free trade deal being negotiated between the United States and the European Union, will be staging protests in Austria and around the world on Saturday. Heidemarie Porstner from Global 2000 explains why activists are concerned:

Christian Cummins

Vietnam Environmental Protests

We hear about the emergence of environmental protests in Vietnam, and the wider situation when it comes to criticism of the authorities, from Bill Hayton, author of “Vietnam: Rising Dragon".