Migration crisisChanges in EU policy needed to address migrant crisis: Experts
More than 3,700 people were believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean during 2015. Alongside these tragic developments, increasing levels of migration along the Balkan route have been met by border closures within the EU, with growing tensions exacerbating humanitarian challenges across the wider region. EU Member States have struggled to adopt a unified approach to handling the issue. New study indicates deterrent measures such as anti-smuggling are ineffective and an alternative is needed.
A series of proposed changes to EU policy on refugees and migrants has been released by researchers at the University of Warwick.
The policy suggestions are the result of an on-going three year project, Crossing the Mediterranean sea by boat: Mapping and documenting migratory journeys and experiences, which is in its first year and is part of the wider £1 million Mediterranean Migration Research Program, launched by the Economic and Social Research Council in September.
More than 3,700 people were believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean during 2015. Alongside these tragic developments, increasing levels of migration along the Balkan route have been met by border closures within the EU, with growing tensions exacerbating humanitarian challenges across the wider region. EU Member States have struggled to adopt a unified approach to handling the issue.
U Warwick reports that the University of Warwick project involves conducting a total of 225 in-depth qualitative interviews with migrants and refugees. Currently in its first phase, the findings draw on a series of interviews conducted since September 2015 across three Mediterranean island arrival points: Kos, Malta, and Sicily.
The team has been led by Dr. Vicki Squire, associate professor of international security from the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the University of Warwick. It is hoped the findings will provide the basis for discussion with EU policy makers and non-governmental organisations regarding recent policy developments and used as steps to improve policy responses over the coming months.
The four suggestions are:
1. Replace deterrent border control policies with interventions that address the diverse causes of irregular migration: Findings from the project suggests that measures such as detention centers, deportation, and anti-smuggling are not effective deterrents of irregular migration, and affirm the need to address diverse migratory causes across source, neighboring, and transit regions. The researchers propose that deterrent policies are replaced by interventions that improve livelihoods and educational opportunities across source, neighboring, and transit regions.
