In this illustration, it is clear that most sub-Saharan migrants who take the so-called “central Mediterranean route” into Europe must first pass through other safe, stable countries before embarking on the dangerous journey off the coast of Libya. Those migrating from Nigeria, Senegal, and Gambia must often travel through Niger, for example in order to ultimately get to Libya.

Which begs the question: if these people are legitimate refugees, why aren’t they claiming asylum in Niger? Niger would be a perfect place to do this, and in fact the UNHCR has this year opened an office in Agadez for precisely this purpose.

Yet the vast majority of sub-Saharan migrants nonetheless willingly continue on to the ultra-dangerous nation of Libya, a sort of satellite Caliphate for ISIS. Hence we are supposed to believe that these individuals who are supposedly fleeing imminent death or persecution are willingly putting themselves in a position in which they might yet again face death or persecution. But this time at the hands of those charming chaps called ISIS.

They then proceed to embark on the perilous journey across the Mediterranean on dingy vessels. Some (a deep minority) even bring their toddlers and babies along for the ride, putting their children at grave risk.

Anyone with any connection to reality should hence know what is going on here: huge masses of people from sub-Saharan Africa are choosing to put their lives at risk in the hope of finding a better life in Europe. This is totally understandable, and an aspiration that requires our sympathy. What it does not require, however, is for us to continue, at least in the Italian case, to refer to these people as genuine “refugees.”

More bizarre still is the European response to all of this. Upon intercepting the migrant vessels in the Mediterranean, instead of returning the vessels to Libya, the European authorities either use their own ships to safely escort migrants to Italy, or allow various NGOs to do the job for them.

I would think that anyone with a modicum of intellectual horsepower would be able to realize that this type of behavior provides immense incentives for further migration to continue ad infinitum. Yet the European political class doesn’t seem to have this modicum of intellectual horsepower.