Biran Gaye
Boat crossings in the Mediterranean continue to cost lives of several migrants as 27 migrants reportedly died in two shipwrecks off coast of Tunisia after their boat broke down off the coast of Tunisia on Tuesday.
According to Alarmephone, the two boats carried 71 and 48 persons. Only 83 persons were rescued from the two boats.
Most of the survivors rushed to the hospital were in grave conditions, said Refugees In Libya.
Dozens of comrades are stuck at sea last night. Please share widely so that the Italian Coast Guards can go rescue them and bring them to Italy. Tunisia is not safe for Black African migrants.
The Mediterranean crossing is one of the deadliest irregular migration routes in the world, and recent months have seen an increase in shipwrecks, exacerbated by adverse weather conditions.
Push factors
When presenting migration policies, European politicians often assert that smugglers play a key role in luring people into irregular migration. But according to the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), a research and analysis network on migration, this is simply not true. The results of a survey of 60,000 migrants carried out by the MMC reveal that in reality, only around 4 percent of migrants cited smugglers as an influence in their decision to migrate.
Friends and family, returnees or social media were all more likely to play a role in the decision-making process above smugglers. For migrants in West and North Africa, many of whom make journeys to Europe, smugglers were cited by just 7 percent of participants as playing a role, far behind other friends or family in another country (41 percent), parents (22 percent), other friends or family in country of departure (21 percent), returnees (16 percent), social media (12 percent) or a spouse (8 percent).
Tunisia as a launchpad to Europe
Tunisia remains an important departure point for sub-Saharan African migrants attempting to reach Europe, with Italy’s Lampedusa Island often serving as the first destination they can reach.
Meanwhile, mainly foreigners who get stuck in Tunisia after journeying there report severe human rights abuses in the country amid an overall xenophobic atmosphere.
The irregular migration route from northern Africa to southern Europe is regarded as one of the most dangerous in the world, with almost 24,500 people dying or disappearing on the Mediterranean crossing in the past ten years, according to IOM.
Mediterranean boat crossings continue to cost lives
In 2023, the perilous Mediterranean crossing claimed more than 1,300 lives or disappearances.
Earlier this year, Tunisian human rights group FTDES (Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights) reported that between 600 and 700 migrants had died or gone missing in shipwrecks departing from the country’s shores.
Earlier in December, nearly 70 migrants lost their lives when their boat sank during an attempt to reach Spain, according to Mali’s Minister in charge of Malians living abroad, with over 35 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa reported dead or missing in separate incidents off Tunisia’s coast in the same month.
In a statement issued on December 26, Minister Mossa Ag Attaher said that the vessel, which had departed on December 19, carried 80 people. Only 11 are known to have survived the disaster, according to the Ministry.
Among the few survivors, nine were identified as Malian nationals. Another 25 young Malians were confirmed among the deceased, the minister stated.
Most of the deaths have been attributed to small boats setting off from the coasts of Tunisia as well as Libya.
The Atlantic migration route from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands remains one of the most dangerous in the world. The archipelago, situated closer to Africa than mainland Spain, is often viewed as a gateway to continental Europe.
Many migrants embarking on this perilous journey hail from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Gambia, Nigeria and other West African nations, driven by the pursuit of security, economic opportunities, or escape from violence and political instability.
Meanwhile, about 66,000 people have managed to reach Italy in 2024, according to the interior ministry in Rome — less than half the number in 2023.
A holistic approach for the future
An effective migration policy in the future will require a shift in emphasis, Executive Director of Missing Migrants Bram Frouws says as quoted by Info Migrants.
The new EU Asylum and Migration Pact, a package of reforms on a common asylum policy is set to be implemented over the next year and a half to minimize irregular migration.
With the promotion of legal migration, it could be an important part of the puzzle to address irregular migration, experts say.
“I think, if you create more legal pathways, […] I mean proper upscaling of labor migration, circular migration, that would enable a conversation in these countries that is more about an equal partnership,” he said.
“If people know, I cross the Mediterranean, I take all these terrible risks, I pay a lot of money to do that, but if I don’t have a valid asylum claim, there is no way I can stay here, and I might actually be returned home in a matter of weeks, I think that will probably change people’s decision making at some point, especially if they know there are legal alternatives out there. There will always be some boat crossings, but not at the scale we currently see.”
