Gavin O'Malley
100,000 dead from Mediterranean Migration Crisis
Every year, over 100,000 people migrate across the Mediterranean Sea into Europe in search of a better life. However, 1 in 50 who attempt the journey die along the way. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, crossings have been on the rise. This year alone over 195,000 people have journeyed across the Mediterranean into Europe. According to Frontex, the EU border agency, the Mediterranean route is the most active route into Europe right now.
Most people attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe for one of two reasons: to escape poverty and provide for their families, or to seek asylum. The majority of migrants are men who make the journey to better provide for their families. However, some boys cross as young as 16 with the same goal in mind.
The asylum seekers generally come from war zones, however, a surge of racism in Tunisia caused an uptake in migrants. There are plenty of reasons why people migrate to Europe, but why is the route so dangerous?
Firstly, many of the boats migrants use are poorly made and not meant to go offshore. The merchants who sell the boats care mostly about money, and so they cut spending to maximize profits and make their product cheaper than their competition, which results in very low-quality vessels. The boats are also overcrowded and launched at the same time as many others, with upwards of 20 boats launching at once.
Secondly, weather conditions play a huge role in the safety of the crossings. Crossings are seasonal, usually occurring during the summer. Storms are much more common during the summers and make crossings more dangerous. Often bad weather doesn’t discourage smugglers from sending off their boats, resulting in unnecessary deaths.
Additionally, bad weather makes spotting the boats much more difficult for search and rescue crews.
Finally, search and rescue (SAR) teams are no longer as proactive as they used to be. Response times have lengthened, and countries are less eager to take in refugees. Italy, for example, has a law in place that requires SAR ships to go to northern ports to drop off migrants before searching for more. These hostile policies make monitoring the journey much harder for rescue operations and as a result much more dangerous
SAR NGOs also struggle to operate within the Mediterranean due to clashes with governments. The NGOs believe they have an obligation to help anyone who needs it, yet the governments feel that NGOs are infringing on their sovereignty by operating in their territory. The nation’s governments have laws in place to stop the NGOs from operating within their waters. As a result, dozens of NGO SAR vehicles have been impounded in ports with fines and penalties for breaking the laws.
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