The Medusae and the Migrant: Ala Tannir on the Ecology of Crisis in the Mediterranean

2018-06-21T11:55:00-04:00

Since the beginning of 2018 alone, 857 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean — more than five per day — fleeing war, political repression, economic hardship, and ecological crises. It is the deadliest migration route in the world. While the internal borders of the European Union have been made increasingly porous since the early 1990’s, the external borders have been progressively closed off, leaving the sea as the primary path to asylum. But the waters are rough, and migrants are often crammed on overpacked, unseaworthy vessels by opportunistic smugglers. Armed with remote sensing technologies, policing missions sent by the European states send many boats back. Others sink. Rescues — mandated by international maritime law — have become less and less frequent as European countries have instituted a complex set of laws that provide loopholes allowing the abdication of their responsibility. Nearly one in every fifty migrants attempting the journey does not make it.

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The Medusae and the Migrant: Ala Tannir on the Ecology of Crisis in the Mediterranean