Refugee Crisis and Cruise Ships
A big contrast in the world of living the better life
Dramatic pictures may have been seen on the news lately. Since the start of a fire in a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos news all over the world were documenting what has been happening there ever since.
The Situation
The sad thing is that the European governments are watching and ‘trying their best’ to handle this situation. The camp where most of the refugees are living was built for 2800 people, but meanwhile, there were 20.000 refugees living in tents and houses made out of plastics and cardboards. Water and sewage were not available for most of the residents and food was a scarce resource.
After the big fire on the campsite, more than half of its residents who were hoping for a better life in Europe, fleeing from war and corruption have lost their homes and were homeless from one day to the other. On September 9th, 2020, the day after the night of hell for the residents, the aftermath of the catastrophic event has been visible to the public.
Reactions from all over the world and humanitarian organizations could have been heard and promised their help on making efforts to better the situation. In the meantime, the homeless residents were living on the street, on the beach, even on graveyards because of the loss of their housing.
The Other Side
Usually, cruise ships are full of passengers from all over the world cruising in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, or the Asian sea to discover some new places while taking their hotel room with them. Thousands of passengers are staying on hundreds of cruise ships for their vacation.
But since coronavirus has hit, many travel companies are reviewing on how to make money in a time where no money can be made from selling vacations to the public, at least in the way that they used to. People are now traveling within their countries more often, doing day trips or road trips, but not for too long and too far.
Looking into the cruise sector people have not been seen on a lot of ships since March this year. Cruise companies were holding their ships on stand by to quickly react to a new boom in the travel industry. Sadly this boom has not yet occurred.
Since May 2020 many people may have seen that cruise companies are selling their ships to decrease their fleet and saving money or to replace older ones. But many were shipped to the scrapyard to be demolished and will never see a foot from a passenger on board again.
The Compromise
How about making a turn and not looking away from what has been going on in the world lately?! Many people need housing and governments are looking to find a way to provide all those needs.
All these ships that are being sent to be demolished are still fully working, just not as efficient as they should be when running on oil. But all these ships, when in harbor, can use shore power to run electricity sewage, and all other necessities.
Instead of being sent to the scrapyard, these cruise ships should be sent to places where a lot of housing is needed for many people. It has a functioning sewage system, electricity, and all other amenities to provide a functioning housing facility to a large number of people. Food can be delivered and given out to the people in all those restaurants market places on board.
A full life worth living for a certain period can be provided by maintaining and giving a standard of living to the refugees who come from all over the world in the hope of a better life without war, hunger, and corruption. And the easiest way of doing so is not by building another refugee camp made out of plastic and cardboard tents!
