Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost during Migration
Foreword For many of the 232 million people around the world who live outside their country of birth today, migration means the opportunity for a better life for themselves and their families. Yet, for many others, the search for such an opportunity comes at an extremely high cost, as they face unimaginable and often fatal dangers along their journeys. Some are ready to spend their lifetime savings or take on massive debts and risk their lives and the lives of their families for a new start. Death is a risk worth taking in desperate situations of violence, persecution, famine or even absence of prospects of a decent life. One year ago, the world watched in horror when some 360 migrants lost their lives in the attempt to swim to the shores of the Italian island of Lampedusa. Regrettably, the horror seems endless: up to 500 migrants met their death at sea off Malta just a few weeks before this report was published. Two survivors reported that smugglers deliberately rammed and sunk their ship when migrants refused to board a less seaworthy vessel, after having been forced to switch boats at sea many times on their journey from Egypt. Two weeks after the incident, there were only 11 identified survivors; witnesses reported that as many as 100 children were on board. These tragedies in the Mediterranean are but two examples of the many migrant tragedies unfolding all over the world. Hundreds perish every year on the journey from Central America to the United States through Mexico, under the desert sun or robbed and beaten along the way; migrants drown on their way from Indonesia to Australia, or off the coast of Thailand and in the Bay of Bengal; migrants die of thirst crossing the Sahara desert into North Africa, or drown in the Gulf of Aden as they try to reach the Middle East. In many of these cases, migrants often disappear and die without a trace. The paradox is that at a time when one in seven people around the world are migrants in one form or another, we are seeing a harsh response to migration in the developed world. Limited opportunities for safe and regular migration drives would-be migrants into the hands of smugglers, feeding an unscrupulous trade that threatens the lives of desperate people. We need to put an end to this cycle. Undocumented migrants are not criminals, but human beings in need of protection and assistance, entitled to legal assistance, and deserving respect. I have repeatedly emphasized the need for smarter policies to end the horror of migrant deaths, and particularly “practical protection� measures to guarantee safe and regular ways for migrants to reach their destinations. Collecting and presenting information about who these migrants are, where they come from and why they move is the first indispensable step to understanding this global tragedy and designing evidence-based, effective policy responses and practical
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