Migrant tragedies won’t be stopped while governments play the blame game

Deaths in Mexico and the English Channel highlight the hypocrisy of countries whose promises of action are undermined by restrictive migration policies, writes Kieran Guilbert

An altar in memory of Domingo Raymundo Mateo, who died in a truck crash in Mexico, in Chajul, Guatemala (Reuters)

Two migrant tragedies, just two weeks apart. In the English Channel, 27 people drowned attempting the crossing from France to the UK. In Mexico, 55 people aiming to reach the US were killed when their truck crashed.

It is impossible to fathom the fear that must have gripped these migrants as they said goodbye to their friends and families and put their lives in the hands of people smugglers.

Yet the ensuing responses from the aforementioned countries – and their rhetoric – was all too predictable. No sooner had the deaths occurred than the finger pointing and blame game began.