I REFER to your article which reported that as many as 700 people are feared dead after a fishing boat packed with migrants capsized off the Libyan coast ("Packed migrant ship sinks with up to 700 feared dead", The Herald, April 20).

The scale of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea shames all of us and gave me cause to reflect on the unfairness of life.

This same sea which will provide many of us with a place to swim and relax during a peaceful summer holiday provides a watery grave for the refugees of the African Continent. Surely in the name of humanity we need to address this tragedy?

Roddy Mac Donald.

1 Glenmount Place, Ayr.