Chapter 118: Good is not pure and bad is not thorough
The strong military power of East Asian countries and regions is not a good thing.
European nations joined the European Union, advocating a community with free borders. Therefore, countries no longer need to aggressively develop their military strength, allowing them to focus on improving people's livelihoods and social welfare. However, East Asia faces numerous challenges, requiring each country to develop its military, leading to the current "monster training room" situation.
But this situation also has advantages.
Take the European Union, for example. While it appears to be a community of so many nations, it's actually riddled with contradictions. Not only will the establishment of the EU not eliminate traditional conflicts between nations, but it also creates a gap in perspectives on many issues. Take the refugee issue, for example: some countries advocate acceptance, while others reject it. These contradictions are inherent.
Xiao Peng and his friends were set up in a trap this time, and the people who dug it were none other than the people from the "Overseas Immigrants Rescue Station".
There are many charities similar to the Overseas Migrant Rescue Center in the Mediterranean, including well-known organizations such as Mediterranea, Open Arms, Mediterranean Rescue, and Sea Watch. I wouldn't dare to say how many, but I'm afraid there are at least dozens of charities helping refugees across the Mediterranean.
Xiao Peng declined to comment on whether these charities are helping refugees or simply soliciting donations, but they are certainly helping them. He observed the staff at the Overseas Migrant Rescue Center distributing water, food, and life jackets to the refugees, all of which cost money.
However, the EU has passed a resolution on the refugee issue, criminalizing the importation of illegal immigrants into Europe. The ostensible reason for this is to crack down on human trafficking organizations known as "smugglers," but in reality, it's also aimed at tightening refugee policies and denying entry to refugees. A Danish chemical tanker once discovered 27 refugees stowing away in a small wooden boat in the Mediterranean. As they passed by, the boat sank, and they rescued the 27 refugees. European countries then began to pass the buck, refusing to allow the ship to dock or even send the refugees back. The ship drifted at sea for over 40 days before finally being allowed to dock in Italy to allow the refugees to disembark.
This is not an isolated incident, similar things have happened many times.
The Italian island of Sicily has already banned these charitable organizations' ships from docking. Every time they do, they dump a stream of refugees. The funniest thing is that none of these charities are headquartered in Italy. For example, Open Arms is based in Spain. They have a large ship that can hold over 300 people, and they always load it with refugees and send them to Italy, never to their own country. If Italy refuses to accept them? They'll wield all sorts of moral slack, claiming it's ignoring the legal and moral obligation to save lives!
When the global epidemic broke out, Sicily had just managed to control the epidemic, but a charity refugee ship full of infected people appeared in Sicily again.
Beep, the new source of disease has been delivered.
Surprise? Unexpected?
It can also be seen that Italy has really been driven crazy by the refugee issue, and even warships have been sent out to intercept refugee boats!
These charities don't dare to get too estranged with Italy. After all, they still need to send people there and dock there. They can't be like the German "Sea Watch Organization" that has been directly blacklisted by Italy. If their ships want to dock in Italy, they will send a ship to block their bows and prevent them from entering!
It turns out that the reasons for the rescue ships of these charitable organizations are exactly the same: we encountered a refugee ship at sea, and when the refugee ship was in distress, we rescued the refugees.
But this excuse has been used so many times, to the point where no one dares to believe it: Are you a charity organization or that boy with glasses from Japan who never grows up? People die wherever they go, and you suffer shipwrecks wherever you go!
Charity organizations also have a hard time explaining that we have to save refugees before people will donate and we will have money, but directly bringing people into Europe is against the law!
So they came up with a new solution: they turned off their AIS and went to a sparsely populated area off shipping lanes and fishing grounds to call for help. If they couldn't find anyone, they would say, "We immediately called for help, but we couldn't reach anyone, so we had to do it ourselves." If they could reach anyone, even better, they would simply ask the refugees on the boat to jump into the sea. Would the arriving boats rescue the drowned? If they did, they would share the responsibility!
But they had not anticipated one thing, that is, Xiao Peng's boat was a sailboat; and they had not expected that Xiao Peng would call the police directly, and before his boat even arrived, the Italian Navy's helicopter arrived!
Xiao Peng watched the helicopter fly towards the refugee boat. Whether the refugee boat really needed rescue depended on the judgment of the Italian military. If the Italian military said that this group of people needed rescue, then he would definitely participate in the rescue. If they shook their heads, Xiao Peng would have no choice.
It wasn't that Xiao Peng was cruel; he simply didn't want to be stranded at sea for months without a port. If his ship's supplies were to drift with a boatload of refugees, it would be hard to believe it could last two weeks.
But he soon learned the answer: the refugee boat that claimed its engine had broken down had started up immediately upon seeing the helicopter and was heading south with the refugees. Their smuggling attempt had already failed.
What if the captain admitted he was going to Italy? He'd be jailed for bringing illegal immigrants into Europe. So why stay here? Go home and find another opportunity!
Pascal looked at Xiao Peng and said, "We seem to be pretty bad. We just ruined a group of people's chance to embrace a new life."
Xiao Peng said helplessly, "Xiao Pa, I'm not completely good, nor completely bad. In fact, I'm just an ordinary person. If you ask me what life experience I have learned in Marseille these two years, it all comes down to this: protect yourself first. I saved so many people in the port of Marseille because that matter was within my control, but what happened here is completely beyond our control! You know what happened with the Danish chemical tanker! We saved a boatload of refugees but couldn't even go home! Can you guarantee that the same thing won't happen to us after we save people? I want to save them, but the prerequisite is that I can protect myself first! Xiao Pa, do you really feel guilty? You can donate some money and materials to those refugee reception areas to improve their lives. If you really want to save them, I have no objection. I will jump into the sea now, and you can drive the boat to save them. I would rather swim to Italy with 'Nightingale' than take this risk."
Pascal thought about it and sighed: "You are right, we are all ordinary people, not saints."
He had just finished speaking when a call came from the cabin. Xiao Peng tilted his head and glanced at it, a little confused: "Oh my god, why is it channel 9?"
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