Human Costs of Border Control

PhD candidate Tamara Last

Tamara Last’s contribution to the project is to establish whether there is a relationship between border policies and migrant mortality in the Mediterranean. An unknown proportion of irregular migrants attempting to enter the EU via the Mediterranean Sea arrive dead on European shores. The absolute number of deaths picked up by the media has increased over the last twenty years, but so far this is the only publically available source of data on migrant mortality along this migratory fault line. Meanwhile, Member States such as Italy, Spain, Greece and Malta, have stepped up border control and border management along the southern external border of the EU, so that the region has witnessed an increase in personnel, targeted funding, technology, and diversity of actors involved (such as FRONTEX), with uncertain consequences for mortality rates among migrants attempting to cross unauthorized into the EU. The aims of Tamara’s PhD are fourfold: (1) to compile a database of death certificates of (identified and unidentified) migrants whose bodies have been brought to or found along the EU coasts of the Mediterranean, including Greece, Malta, Italy, Spain and hopefully Cyprus and Turkey, for the period 1/1/1990 to 31/12/2013, (2) to estimate (fluctuations in) mortality rates for the region (and key subregions) over this time period, (3) to compile a comprehensive database of border policies and operational practices in the Mediterranean, and (4) to analyse the relationship between migrant mortality and border control in this region over time.

Postdoc Theodore Baird

Theodore Baird studies the sociology and networks of migration management in the European Union. This project investigates the question how has the increased role of private actors in migration management affected the aims of border surveillance policies? The project’s sub-questions are: which firms are involved in the implementation of carrier sanctions and border surveillance, and what financial interests do they have? Since 1990, how many people are and have been employed by private enterprises in the context of carrier sanctions and border surveillance? Since 1990, what is the turnover of private enterprises in the context of carrier sanctions and border surveillance? Are private enterprises involved in shaping the policies which they implement, and if so in which way? Have new aims of border law and policy been formulated in order to make use of the potential of privatization?

In particular the project maps the networks of commercial security and surveillance firms and their links with public bureaucracies throughout the European Union. Using network analysis, Baird looks at which firms are most influential in border surveillance and how they shape the policies which they implement. This project also investigates the socio-legal dimensions of visa restrictions and carrier sanctions in four countries – Spain, Italy, Malta, and Greece – and at the European level. His PhD is based on in-depth fieldwork on human smuggling from East Africa to the Middle East. He is interested in working with multi-disciplinary scholars with interests in migration management, human smuggling and trafficking, and the economic sociology of migration flows.

Postdoc Dr. Paolo Cuttitta

This project analyses the role of humanitarianism in the transformations of the EU border regime and in the shift from migration control to migration management. The increasing importance of the humanitarian discourse and the increasing involvement of humanitarian actors in the management of migration raise questions regarding both the spatial dimension of border controls (delocalization) and the role of non-state actors in shaping border policies (denationalization).

Geographically the project focuses on the Central Southern Mediterranean (the EU border between Italy/Malta and North Africa).

The key research issues are the following:

• The establishment of a ‘global migration governance’ is apparent in the multiplication of non-state actors participating in border management. Many of them are humanitarian actors. The project should analyse whether and in how far such humanitarian actors have the power to co-determine (together with state and supra-state actors like the EU) border policies in the Central Southern
• State authorities increasingly justify their taking action outside their territories (international waters, territories of countries of transit and origin) with humanitarian arguments, such as the need to save human lives or to protect the human rights of migrants from abuses committed by smugglers. Furthermore, the participation of humanitarian organizations (both international and national, both in the EU and in third countries) in migration management contributes to the process of delocalization of border controls. The project should specifically analyse the relationship between humanitarianism and delocalization in the Central Southern Mediterranean.

While they are more and more framed as humanitarian measures, what is the actual impact of (denationalized and delocalized) border controls on the human rights of migrants, also including the right to life?

Prof. Dr. Thomas Spijkerboer

This sub-project seeks to investigate how human rights analysis is affected by the fact that the role of the state has changed in the process of globalization. He analyses how state responsibility for border deaths has been influenced by the shift from border control (reactive, focus on individuals, territorial, exclusion from territory) to border management (proactive, focus on populations, delocalised, inclusion in deterritorialised governmentality). Border management is characterised by delocalisation (border control takes place not just at the border, but also abroad or in the interior), de-statisation (private companies, NGO’s, intergovernmental entities, smugglers play a role in border control) and securitisation (reconceptualising borders as criminality and security issues). Existing state capabilities “jumped track” in this shift from one “organising logic” to another, while emerging capabilities were inserted in the new organising logic as well. In Europe, these developments took place in the context of – but were not caused by – Europeanization.

The research questions for this sub-project are:

• What is the content of a (conventional) human rights analysis of migrant mortality which relies on the hypothesis that European states and private enterprises are not accountable for migrant mortality?
• What is the content of a (functional) human rights analysis of migrant mortality which relies on the hypothesis that European states and private enterprises are accountable for migrant mortality?
• How do the differences between these two analyses relate to the postulated shift from migration control to migration management, and to the hypotheses of denationalisation of the state, increased administrative powers, and increased importance of law as a source of state legitimacy?

The International Conference, entitled "Border deaths and migration policies: state and non-state approaches", was held at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 14-15 June 2018. It was organised by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and convened by Thomas Spijkerboer and Paolo Cuttitta, in collaboration with International Organization for Migration (IOM), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. 

The Conference inviteded researchers from across the disciplines, policymakers, state and non-state actors involved in border control and/or search and rescue activities, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, activists, civil servants and practitioners from across the world to engage in a dialogue and confront each other with their findings, experiences and insights about the issue of migration-related border deaths.

The objective of the conference, held on the occasion of the conclusion of the five-year research project on border deaths, was to facilitate a dialogue. This dialogue was intended to facilitate the exchange of findings, experiences, and insights regarding the global issue of border deaths. Where findings, experiences, and insights converge, this was to be taken into consideration. Conversely, where these diverge, the specific points of divergence were to be identified. It is evident that there are discrepancies in the facts, assumptions regarding causal relations, and assumptions about what is politically feasible. 

The conference consisted of:

1. Three plenary sessions with invited speakers;
2. Parallel workshops on specific issues;
3. A final plenary session.

Old conference plan can be accessed here.

Old conference call, titled "Border deaths and migration policies: state and non-state approaches" can be found here.

Alexandra Michalaki

Alexandra completed a Masters in Development Studies from London South Bank University in 2013 and a Bachelor in International and European studies at Panteion University. Alexandra has previously completed an internship with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and has conducted research on the areas of human rights, migration, asylum, racism and xenophobia in Greece.

Naya Tselepi

Naya was a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography of the University of the Aegean and she variously worked as a researcher in scientific projects regarding mobilities, migrations and space. She studied International Cooperation in the Compultense University of Madrid (2004) and has worked in NGOs for migrants, refugees, inmates, homeless and unemployed people. Finally, she has been actively involved in various anti-racist and solidarity groups (NoBorder Group, anti-racist initiative of Lesvos, Thessaloniki etc.).

Rena Michalitsi

Rena holds two Masters in Sociology: one entitled Social Exclusion and Minorities from Panteion University, Athens, Greece (2000), and one entitled Sociology from University of Crete, Greece (2015). Over the years, she has participated in various projects on social issues and different target groups. One of the latest projects was filming short stories of the life of migrants (Video life-stories of migrants – 2013), in the framework of which she developed the scenario and filmed the story Albanians in Crete – Here and There

Marios Chatziprokopiou

Marios Chatziprokopiou was a fully-funded PhD researcher and part-time tutor in Performance Studies (Aberystwyth University). His thesis is entitled: Displaced Laments: Performing Mourning and Exile in Contemporary Greece. Marios has previously studied History (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and Visual Arts (University of Paris VIII), and he holds an MA in Social Anthropology and Ethnology from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences of Paris (funded by the French Minister of Education and the Foundation Michelis). In 2009-2010, Marios worked as a performance studies tutor at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. His research has been published in Greece, France, Brazil and the U.K. 

Nefeli Bami

Nefeli worked in a NGO as a guardian of unaccompanied minor refugees in Athens. She worked before as a researcher studying the “The new migration of Greeks in Germany in times of crisis. Social and cultural capital in the migration and integration processes” (IKYDA research program) and has a long term fieldwork experience on the land Greek-Turkish border on Evros region studying migration, borders, citizenship, minorities and Greek-Turkish relationships. She holds a Masters in Social Anthropology and History from the University of Aegean and she is currently getting trained on Systemic Psychotherapy. 

Efi Latsoudi

Efi studied psychology in the University of Athens and University of Picardie-France and she did a postgraduate degree in the University Paris 7 studying Literature and Film. After her studies she has been working as film director and script writer in documentary and fiction film. Εfi Latsoudi is currently participating in the solidarity network of Lesvos “village of all together” which runs PIKPA , the first self-organised open camp for refugees in Greece. She is also working for the Refugees Support Programme Aegean (RSPA), a programme which provides monitoring as well as legal and social support.

Amélie Tapella

Amélie worked with IOM Kenya as Project Development Officer (UN/DESA fellowship programme award) where her field of study involves design and management of programmes and projects in developing countries and assistance of victims of trafficking. She worked before as a Project Assistant at the Integration and Citizenship Rights Group COSPE (Cooperazione allo Sviluppo dei Paesi Emergenti) and has also served as a Research Assistant at the University of Pisa studying the symbolic construction of the “migration emergency” in italy (more info here). Amélie has a double degree in French and Italian law and pursued her academic background with a master in Peace Studies (Italy) and International and European law (France).

Giorgia Mirto

Giorgia is the first field researcher involved in “Human Cost of Bordel Control” project, since 3 years. She worked as cultural mediator for legal support in a reception centre for irregular migrants, Laboratorio Zeta, for 2 years. With a group of Sicilian activists carried out many local projects for migrant reception, especially coordinated a national project for monitoring Lampedusa’s arrivals during 2011-2012, which involved a big cartel of anti-racist and solidarity NGOs. Giorgia has a degree in History from the University of Palermo, specialising in anthropology, and she is currently pursuing her academic background researching Italian social movement studies and cultural studies with a master's in Peace Studies at the University of Pisa.

Ignacio Urquijo Sánchez

Ignacio studied for his master's in International Relations at the University Complutense of Madrid in 2012. He specialized in Sub-Saharan migration and part of his investigations has been published by the Spanish Association of Sociology. He worked for the NGO Karibu, which assists African migrants and refugees in Madrid. Ignacio has published as a journalist in magazines, newspapers and websites such as Meeting Halfway, Hemisferio Zero, Calle 20, Grupo Zeta or Diario Expatriado. 

Marta Perez Perez

Marta was a ABD PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at Autonomous University of Madrid. She holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School. She researches and practices on human rights, citizenship and borders, forms of governance and politics, the relationship between neoliberal and bureaucratic theories and practices, and critical analysis and practice on access to the health system in Madrid. She is also interested in the politics of publishing in academics (see more here).

Rutvica Andrijasevic

Dr Rutvica Andrijasevic joined the University of Leicester in 2011 having previously worked as a Lecturer in Politics at the Open University and as a Marie Curie post-doctoral research fellow at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford. Rutvica gained her PhD in Women’s Studies from the University of Utrecht in 2004. Rutvica is a member of the editorial collective of the Feminist Review journal and holds professional affiliations with BSA, ISA and FWSA.

Hein de Haas

Hein de Haas is Co-Director of the International Migration Institute (IMI), as well as an Associate Professor in Migration Studies and James Martin Fellow at the University of Oxford. He is also Professor of Migration and Development at the University of Maastricht. His research focuses on the links between migration and broader processes of development and social transformation, primarily from the perspective of migrant-sending societies. He did extensive fieldwork in the Middle East and North Africa and, particularly, Morocco.

Yves Pasquau

Yves Pascouau is Director of Migration and Mobility Policies at the European Policy Centre. He joined the EPC in 2011 as Senior Policy Analyst and Head of the European Migration and Diversity Programme. Before joining the EPC, he worked for 10 years as a Researcher at the University of Pau in France where he obtained a PhD in Law. He has also been a Researcher at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he conducted a large-scale survey on migrants’ integration requirements.

Ninna Nyberg Sørensen

Ninna Nyberg Sørensen is a cultural sociologist and senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies. Her work has concentrated on migration in its many forms (voluntary, forced, internal, international) and the translocal and transnational development conditions created by human mobility. Apart from her academic writing she has authored or edited several policy-oriented analyses of the migration-development nexus. After functioning as a senior advisor to Danida’s Human Rights Programme for Central America for three and a half years, she returned to DIIS in 2009, where she coordinates migration research and a new programme on ‘Migration Industries and Markets for Migration Control’

We are releasing the public versions of the database, which can be downloaded below.

This is an anonymized but detailed version of the Deaths at the Borders Database for the Southern EU for public use. The data contained in this version matches closely the information it retrieved from the documents the research searched; they have only translated, organized and standardized some of the written language to make it understandable.

The public version is available as a complete file in English. Datasets for Spain, Italy and Greece have been translated into the original languages of the documents from which the information was retrieved.

Contents for the public Version

English:

• FULL ENGLISH PUBLIC VERSION Version 1
• FULL ENGLISH PUBLIC VERSION Version 2 (new version of the same data was released on 28 June 2016. For this update, the research team removed all irregularities in the data, added new functionalities in the Excel and wrote a metadata document to increase usability of the data and to make it easier to compare the data with other sources of information concerning border deaths)
• Metadata Version 2

Spanish:

•  SPANISH PUBLIC VERSION OF SPAIN DATASET (Base de datos de inmigrantes fallecidos en la frontera sur UE – ESPANA- versión pública 12 mayo 2015; Translated by Ignacio Urquijo)

Greek:

•  GREEK PUBLIC VERSION OF GREECE DATASET (Θάνατοι στα Σύνορα Βάση Δεδομένων για το Νότο της Ε.Ε. – Ελλάδα – δημόσια έκδοση 12 Μαΐου 2015; Translated by Nefeli Bami)

Italian:

•  ITALIAN PUBLIC VERSION OF ITALY DATASET (Banca dati delle morti ai confini meridionali dell’UE – ITALIA – versione pubblica 12 maggio 2015; Translated by Giorgia Mirto)

The research team have spent much time and utmost care to avoiding errors in the published data. Notwithstanding this, we cannot exclude the possibility that errors have occurred. If you think you have noticed one, do not hesitate to contact us.

Terms of use

Please ensure that you cite where you got the data from when you use it:

APA citation: Last, Tamara (2015, May 12) Deaths at the Borders: Database for the Southern EU, retrieved from http://www.borderdeaths.org/?page_id=425 on [INSERT DATE YOU DOWNLOADED THE DATABASE]

We are releasing the visualisation versions of the database, which can be downloaded below.

This is a simplified, coded version of the Deaths at the Borders Database for the Southern EU created for the interactive visualization.

• FULL ENGLISH VISUALISATION VERSION
• Key for Deaths at the Borders Database for Southern EU – visualisation version 12 May 2015
• Contens for Visualisation Version

Terms of use

Please ensure that you cite where you got the data from when you use it:

• APA citation: Last, Tamara (2015, May 12) Deaths at the Borders: Database for the Southern EU, retrieved from http://www.borderdeaths.org/?page_id=425 on [INSERT DATE YOU DOWNLOADED THE DATABASE]

Last et al (2017) compared the Deaths at the Borders Database with news-sourced datasets on border deaths. It shows a difference in trends between news reporting of dead and missing migrants (steep increase with a dramatic dip in 2010) and the number of bodies found along southern EU borders (overall increase since early 2000s but more constant).

See Last et al (2017) Graph.

The dataset below includes adjusted counts from UNITED list of deaths and the Fortress Europe blog to reflect a common definition of ‘border death’ with the Deaths at the Borders Database: people who have died attempting to cross the EU southern external borders without authorization.

Comparative death dataset

Please use the following citation when using this dataset: Last et al (2017) Deaths at the Borders Database: evidence of deceased migrants’ bodies found along the southern external borders of the European Union, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 43(5): 693-712 https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2016.1276825

Below is the raw social network dataset used for Baird’s research on the border security industry. The data was analyzed and subsequently published in European Security and Surveillance and Society. 

References:

• Baird, Theodore (2017) ‘Who Speaks for the European Border Security Industry? A Network Analysis’, European Security, 26 (1): 37-58. DOI: 10.1080/09662839.2016.1267146
• Baird, Theodore (2016) ‘Surveillance Design Communities in Europe: A Network Analysis’, Surveillance and Society, 14 (1): 34-58. Available online at: http://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/design-comm

DATASETS

1. SNA SandS
2. SNA ES Baird

The data are given in .xls format. The analysis procedures are detailed in the papers. The files can be converted into alternative formats for use with Ucinet, Gephi, R, Pajek, or your preferred network analytical software.

The data is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

If you have any questions or concerns please email Theodore at t.e.baird@vu.nl

The PDF descriptions below provide a summary of the methodology of the Database – the major decisions taken in designing, conducting and presenting the research. 

The database, which spans the period from 1990 to 2013, documents the phenomenon of 'border deaths' in southern EU border regions. Utilising state death management systems, including civil registries and other official documents, the database provides a detailed account of individuals who perished while attempting irregular migration to Europe. Methodological considerations, including coverage, sources, data collection strategies, and ethical considerations, are meticulously outlined in the PDF in order to ensure transparency and accuracy in the compilation of the database

Methodolgy 

Furthermore, a detailed evaluation of the methodology is the subject of a forthcoming scientific paper.

Preliminary Findings by Tamara Last MSc, VU University Amsterdam

• The results in the Preliminary findings are based on the visualization version of the Deaths at the Borders Database for the Southern EU. In this simplified version, confirmed nationalities were combined with assumed origins based on place of birth or estimated race/ethnicity, and categorized under 5 regions (North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Asia and the Balkans); where the sex was missing from the records of identified persons and the gender of the given name was easily apparent, the sex was added; where the identification was not clear (only a first name or multiple/“possible” identitie were recorded) the case was marked as unidentified; and the average of the estimate age range was used.

Policy Conclusions by Prof. dr. Thomas Spijkerboer, VU University Amsterdam

• Thomas Spijkerboer stresses that the Deaths at the Borders Database for the Southern EU is relevant for policy-making on two points:
  • The data can be used for evidence-based policy-making;
  • The data be used for the identification of deceased migrants.
• He further highlights that these aims can be best achieved by establishing a European Migrant Death Observatory as part of the Council of Europe.

Pieter Boeles received emeritus status in 2007 at the University of Leiden, as a professor of Immigration Law. Since 2013, he works as a visiting professor in the section Migration Law of VU University.

1. In his first documentary he followed the Human Costs of Border Control project team between 2013 and 2018 in Malta and made a short documentary, called "Counting the Human Cost of Border Control."
   
2. The "Other Traveller" is the second documentary by Pieter Boeles. He made this film with a small camera and edited it himself. In it, he asks why some people can travel anywhere and others can only reach Europe at the risk of their lives.
   
   Boeles notes that Europe guards its borders by force, often outsourcing to border countries, while allowing the loss of life of the 'other' travellers. In 2018, he wrote in De Groene: "They try to hide the ugly face of Europe by moving victims to the other side. Guarding the external borders promotes internal peace. But I don't want it to happen this way. I am complicit. And so are you."
   
   Read the review of the documentary by the De Groene Amsterdammer (in dutch).
   
   
   

Major news articles about the Project.

France

• Palerme garde la mémoire des migrants morts en mer | La Croix

Greece

• Σοροί μεταναστών στα σύνορα παραμένουν στα αζήτητα | Κόσμος | Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ

Germany

• “Die meisten Leichen tauchen nie auf” | Leben – jetzt.de
• Human Costs of Border Control – Datenbank über Grenztote | FFM Online
• Tote Flüchtlinge an Touristenstränden | Zeit Online
• Die meisten werden nie gefunden | taz.de

Italy 

• PUBBLICATA LA PRIMA ANAGRAFE DEI MIGRANTI MORTI NEL MEDITERRANEO – GLI STATI GENERALI
• Migranti, l’anagrafe dei morti nel Mediterraneo – Corriere Della Sera
• Sono morti qui. La mappa dei defunti nel Mediterraneo – Vita.it
• Deaths at the Borders. Gaining access to civil registries. Research Notes from Spain | Perez | InTrasformazione: rivista di storia delle idee
• Morire in mare, uno studio sulle vittime | Corriere delle Migrazioni
• Stragi migranti, senza nome 2 corpi su 3. “Italia faccia di più sui riconoscimenti” | Il Fatto Quotidiano
• Morti di frontiera: da oggi online Borderdeaths.org una banca dati sui decessi avvenuti tra il 1990 e il 2013 | CartaDiRoma

Spain

• La base de datos de los cadáveres encontrados en el Mediterráneo | Planeta Futuro | EL PAÍS
• Miles de inmigrantes mueren tratando de llegar a Europa, Telediario | RTVE.es A la Carta
• La mayoría de las muertes en el Mediterráneo no han sido contabilizadas | InfoLibre.es
• Coordenadas – Historias que nadie contará – 19/05/15 , Coordenadas | RTVE.es A la Carta
• D.E.P. Inmigrante Nº 7 | Diagonal

International/English

• Many Would-Be Migrants to EU Die Unrecorded, Study Finds  | Reuters
• Deadly crossings to Europe: Dutch study sheds new light on the disappeared | The Globe and Mail
• Europe’s migrant policy creates ‘smugglers’ market’: study | Al Arabiya News
• The debris of the desperate: Finding life jackets and passports off the coast of Turkey | The Globe and Mail
• Many would-be migrants to EU die unrecorded, study finds | Daily Mail Online
• European migrant death database released | DIIS

Publications of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam research team members.

• Theodore Baird
• Paolo Cuttitta
• Tamara Last
• Thomas Spijkerboer
• Orcun Ulusoy