Ukrainian tragedy in waters around Hong Kong

For two days now, Ukrainians have been awaiting news of the fate of 18 of their countrymen who sank 35 meters to the bottom of a Hong Kong seabed, along with their vessel. On Saturday, March 22, the Ukrainian tugboat Naftogaz-67 somehow collided with a Chinese cargo ship (neither weather nor cargo overload currently appear to be factors). Only seven of the tugboat crew were apparently able to escape, while the Chinese vessel sustained only minor damage and all its men are safe. The faintest of hope still remains for the other sailors--they could possibly have survived within an air pocket in the hull--but so far no signals have been heard and divers are unable to enter the wreck until it's moved to shallower waters.

The tugboat had been cited for safety issues back in 2003. Documents presented by the Hong Kong Marine Dept. suggest that the Naftogaz-67 lacked an emergency escape route and breathing apparatuses, while the sailors on board do not seem to have received proper safety training.

Migration

Here is an interesting article covering the gamut of migration issues in Ukraine, of which there are many. Although certainly there is a troubling outflow of Ukrainians from the country (legally and through a booming traffic in prostitution and sex slaves), this is offset by a considerable amount of immigration to this state, sandwiched between two of the greatest economic powers in the world--the E.U. and Russia. Much of this immigration goes unrecorded. Migrants from Africa and Asia pay (often exorbitant) fees to be sneaked into the no-borders European Union, but sometimes they're dropped off in Ukraine and left to decide on their own whether and how they want to get into one of the adjacent Schengen countries.

Bias against immigrants is also evident on the street. There were over 35 racially-motivated attacks reported in first five months of 2007 alone, and this number is continuing to grow. The actual number of incidents is probably far higher--many are simply too afraid to report the violence due to the purportedly unsympathetic reaction of the police force.