Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost during Migration
Much of the published data on migrant deaths is based on information extracted from media reports. This is the case for several groups publishing data on the Mediterranean and Europe – for instance, UNITED,10 which has been maintaining a “list of deaths” since 1993 and also recently created a map of deaths;11 The Migrants Files, a project that began in 2013 but includes reports on deaths from 2000; and Fortress Europe, a blog kept by the journalist Gabriele Del Grande and lists deaths from 1988. The Australian Border Deaths Database also gathers its data from media reports and contact with local NGOs. There are a number of shortcomings with using the media as a primary source of data on border-related deaths (see also Chapter 3). Perhaps most importantly, coverage is not complete. The media tend to cover larger scale incidents involving many deaths, while cases in which only several people die might not make the news or might only receive small mention in local papers and be missed by researchers. In localities where death is frequently occurring but each incident involves small numbers, such as along the United States–Mexico border, for instance, deaths are unlikely to be covered in the media as in a sense they cease to be newsworthy due to their regularity. There is no media presence in many of the areas in which migrants die and these deaths will likely never come to the attention of reporters, unless perhaps deaths are in large numbers and are discovered.12 Even when there is media coverage of an incident, coverage may not continue until a final count of deaths is known. In many incidents involving deaths at sea, initial estimates of fatalities are vague as numbers of total passengers and the fate of those who remain missing is not known. Details of the incident may take weeks to resolve and media attention has often waned by this time. Often information provided in the media is not complete or does not mention details of the profiles of the deceased that would be helpful for a comprehensive record. For instance, particularly in reports of death at sea involving many victims, nationalities might not be listed or they may be mentioned in vague terms only. Age and sex of each of the deceased are also not listed in media reports of large incidents. Other information, like exact location and information gathered through coronial investigation, is not given. There have also been cases where media reports of lost vessels have proven to be incorrect. For instance, the records of 350 presumed deaths had to be removed from the Australian Border Deaths Database when it was found that the vessel that had been reported missing in the media had later been accounted for. 10
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UNITED’s data is based on information collected from own research, and information received from 550 organizations in the network, as well as local experts, journalists and researchers in the field of migration. Includes all deaths UNITED deems are attributable to European border control – including those that occur due to, for instance, suicide following forced return to origin countries. Also includes deaths that occur while migrants are presumed to be travelling to Europe, even if these occur in Africa and other locations far from Europe’s borders. For instance, in 2013 over 90 bodies were found in the desert between Niger and Algeria. See www.bbc. com/news/world-africa-24753100.
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