European officials refer to migrant shipwreck as second Holocaust

Genocide is the systematic destruction of all or a significant part of a racial, ethnic, religious or national group.

The Holocaust was the systematic destruction of almost all European Jews.

On Saturday, hundreds of migrants headed for Europe died when their boat capsized.  For some reason, for some European officials, the first thing that popped to mind was genocide, massacres and 'never again'.


Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat:

“Gangs of criminals are putting people on a boat, sometimes even at gunpoint.  They’re putting them on the road to death, really, and nothing else. It’s genocide — nothing less than genocide, really.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini:

"We have said too many times 'never again.  Now is time for the European Union as such to tackle these tragedies without delay."

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi:

The EU cannot "remain insensitive when every day there is a massacre in the Mediterranean."