Yes , it is lesser evil from the point of society . For me it is the same as shooting criminals who shoot at police once someone does this he is a legit target . Same here people get on these boats not because they are desperate to get anywhere no , this is a cold calculation that probability to drawn is low enough , and nobody is ever going to punish them for breaking the law if they succeed . There is no such thing as purpose for being rich and powerful . It is a reward for hard work and skills and luck altogether . And no , it doesn ' t oblige you to save people who break the law in trying to manipulate rich and powerful and less so like you in taxiing their way to donothing , getallforfree future . Edit Just to be clear nobody is drawning them . That ' s their decision to board a boat for 200 in numbers of 500 , its their decision to ignore the law of countries they want to live in , and ignoring them in their brought on themselves plight is logical from society well being , not cruel . This way you minimise amount of people who would even attempt this , and it will benefit societies as a whole in a medium and long run . Of course , if you are naive and ignorant enough to consider 1 person saved today and 2 drawn tomorrow is a good choice .