The Human Dimension: The Great Forgotten Factor in Migration Along the Central Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Every year thousands of people risk their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean through its central route. Mediterranean migration is not a spontaneous phenomenon favoured by geographical proximity, but rather a structured one, with organized crime planning and overseeing every step of the migrants’ perilous and lengthy trips. Once at sea, assistance to any person found in distress at sea is supposedly guaranteed. The rights of migrants are granted not only by human rights law but also by treaties from other branches of public international law which should permeate the whole system. However, the protection of migrants’ human rights has not played a prevalent role in migration policies at the European Union level. Sea rescues have been relegated to only what is routinely demanded by maritime obligations. Migration by sea is primarily presented from a securitized approach, with a focus on the reduction of arrivals and a downgrading of the human dimension.