Early last Wednesday, a fishing boat sank off the coast of Pílos, Greece. The vessel was overpacked with people trying to reach Europe — reports say there were up to 750 people on board. Greek authorities have stated that the coast guard rescued 104 survivors and that 78 people are confirmed to have died. Around 560 are still missing. Days after the wreck it is clear that these hundreds of people likely drowned.

EU officials have deemed this “the worst ever tragedy” in the Mediterranean. But this shipwreck is not an aberration or an inevitable accident. It is the direct result of Greek and EU practices and regulations that have made entering Europe and seeking asylum increasingly impossible, forcing people to take more and more dangerous routes. It is the product of years of political decisions that have turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard.