Fatal Encounters with the Southern Maritime Border of the EU: Counting and Accounting for the Dead

Selective European immigration policies lead to higher irregular migration flows, and border control drives irregular migrants to more dangerous routes and practices. These are familiar hypotheses to explain the relationship between border policies and migrant deaths, but they have yet to be tested. There is growing awareness and counter-surveillance of border control practices aimed at preventing unauthorized entry of irregular migrants in the Mediterranean as well as the experiences of migrants making these journeys, yet it is striking how little empirical data is available to measure the hypotheses above. This paper will present the methodology, advantages, pitfalls and initial results of the first comprehensive database of border-crossing fatalities along the southern maritime external border of the EU (ie the EU coasts of the Mediterranean). Unlike previous estimates of Mediterranean border deaths which are based on media reports and an effective network of NGOs and activists, this database is sourced from death certificates of migrants whose bodies have been found, processed and buried along the coastlines of Spain, Italy, Malta and Greece. The paper will not only demonstrate the reliability of such a database in counting the dead, but also its potential for aiding in accounting for the dead, both in terms of establishing cause of death and in terms of giving recognition to those who have lost their very lives while seeking a better life in Europe.