Europe may express sympathy with African asylum seekers in word, but this is often contradicted by their actions in deed. By Yohannes WoldemariamLast month, at least 17 people drowned when a boat filled with hundreds of African migrants sank in on its way from Libya to Italy. The accounts of African migrants dying in the Mediterranean Sea are horrifying. True asylum seekers, it is suggested, would simply apply for refuge in the first country they reached. Libya meanwhile has been a nightmare for African refugees both under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi and since his downfall, with many being discriminated against and violently targeted.