Chapter 1 Migrant Deaths: An International Overview
persist. Data and knowledge of the risks and vulnerabilities faced by irregular migrants and asylum-seekers, including death, should not be neglected, but rather tracked as a distinct category.
1.5 Who collects the data? No organization at the global level is currently tasked with collecting information on migrant deaths occurring in border regions. National governments tend not to publish data on border-related deaths, and very few release data regularly and systematically (an exception is the United States Border Patrol). In some cases, States may have information concerning deaths that is not made public as it is collected for law enforcement purposes and considered highly sensitive (Weber and Pickering, 2011:42). Existing information is generally compiled by NGOs, universities, humanitarian and, at times, international organizations. In the United States, migrant deaths are normally investigated by medical examiners offices (at the county- or more rarely the state-level). Media outlets and journalists have also been actively involved in tracking deaths. Some prominent NGOs tracking deaths include UNITED for Intercultural Action and Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía (APDHA) (Spain) in Europe; in the United States several organizations have partnered with medical examiners to track deaths and identify remains, including Humane Borders, the Colibrí Center for Human Rights, and the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, which also works with consular offices of Mexico and other origin countries. Projects run through universities include the Border Crossing Observatory out of Monash University in Melbourne, which maintains a database of deaths; and the Binational Migration Institute, based at the University of Arizona. International organizations publishing estimates of deaths often obtain knowledge from their field offices in locations known for high numbers of deaths, or through partnerships with local humanitarian organizations. Media outlets and journalists involved in tracking deaths include the Arizona Daily Star, The Migrants Files project and Fortress Europe. See Annex for a list of sources publishing data on migrant border-related deaths. 1.5.1 The media as a source of data “These days, it takes a blockbuster tragedy for migrant boats to reach the front pages – the quiet, regular additions to the Mediterranean’s death toll encountered on an almost-weekly basis by rescuers, human rights activists and migrant communities themselves are simply far too humdrum to make the mainstream news.” (Jack Shenker writing for the Guardian following the Lampedusa shipwreck on 3 October 2013) 32
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