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Though perhaps we should, it is hard to ignore the comments of Sun columnist Katie Hopkins. The headline emblazoned "Rescue boats? I'd use gunships to stop migrants," as well as the further horrific comments are, on the face of it, unbelievable. It would be easy to pretend that these views have little public traction, but as a first generation Somali asylum seeker in this country, I feel like they do. The attitude towards asylum seekers can be hideous—there is no other word for it. Hopkins-esque views may be far from the lips of our political leaders, but at the end of the day aren't the consequences of their two approaches remarkably similar?This is an opportunity for many of us to give the lie to this bigotry masquerading as right-thinking policy. Rescue operations restarting at the very least on the scale of Mare Nostrum is a must. This is what politicians should be pushed towards ahead of their summit. But they must also be pushed towards providing asylum for these people rather than shipping them back to Africa. Being "tough" on immigration has deadly consequences. This bloody protectionism should have no place in our society. Rather than being quick to moralize about "people smugglers" (who are no doubt exploitative) we should concentrate on seeing that what they are smuggling is people, not goods that can be lost at sea. To borrow from a recent struggle: #BlackMigrantLivesMatter.Follow Wail on Twitter.