On Tuesday May 21 Metro, the blood stained rag that has the gall to call itself a newspaper, published yet another Lampedusa-related cartoon. Each violently mocks the African men and women who flee their homes, travel thousands of miles and leave the Libyan coast in overcrowded boats in the hope to reach the South European shoes. Many of what are often calls ‘migrant boats’ sunk which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people… and that’s only a count of the last few months.

This was yesterday’s cartoon:
Translation: “If the water keeps rising we might be able to sail to the Austrian border.”

While writing a response to cartoonist René Leisink’s problematic reaction to the criticism he received, I asked Amnesty International Netherlands and Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland (Dutch Council for Refugees) what they thought about Leisink’s cartoon. The Dutch Council for replied by sending the cartoon below and stating: “We thought this one was funnier.”

Translation: “You survived the war and crossed the Sahara but I’m still not sure about perseverance.”

I Tweeted them stating: “ ‘Funnier’ implies that the other one is ‘also funny’. Shame on you!”. Their very heartfelt response? “We didn’t laugh about it this time.”

Contact information
To join the conversation, please use (one of) the following:
E-mail Metro – nieuwsredactie@metronieuws.nl
Twitter Metro – @Metro
E-mail Dutch Council for Refugees – info@vluchtelingenwerk.nl
Twitter Dutch Council for Refugees – @VluchtelingWerk