CIDOB Opinion 705, January 2022 highlights the escalating indifference towards the deaths of migrants attempting to enter Europe, particularly through the Mediterranean and Sahara routes. From 366 deaths in 2013 to over 23,000 by 2021, the number of fatalities has significantly increased, with the 2021 toll estimated at 4,404 people drowning while trying to reach Spanish coasts.
The report attributes this indifference to three key narratives:
- Rescue Operations: In late 2014, maritime rescue became less of a priority, with arguments shifting towards the belief that rescuing migrants encourages them to risk their lives. The rationale was that increased control and returns would reduce departures, thereby decreasing deaths.
- Traffickers as Culprits: Following the refugee crisis of 2015, the focus shifted to combatting traffickers, believing that destroying migrant transport vessels would not only save lives but also prevent them from becoming victims of slavery. This led to a preventive approach of keeping migrants on land.
- Weaponizing Refugees: The escalation includes neighboring countries using refugees as a bargaining tool, especially after crises like Turkey's 2020 move, Morocco's 2021 action, and Belarus's actions in 2021. The EU responded with "war" rhetoric and action, leading to a discourse that no longer focuses on saving lives but rather on avoiding being "trapped" by migrants. The focus now is on stopping and sending them back swiftly.
This narrative-driven policy shift has resulted in a normalization of deaths at borders, accepted as collateral effects of Europe's non-arrival policies. It represents a form of "border necropolitics," where lives are sacrificed to protect the state's rights to defend its borders. This has evolved from justifications to a performative reality, shaping policies such as curtailing rescue capacities, criminalizing NGOs in border areas, and normalizing push-backs and asylum suspensions.
In essence, the report argues that Europe has inadvertently become the continent it did not intend to be, characterized by the normalization of thousands of yearly deaths at its borders, and accepting that these deaths, often by omission, are integral to its non-arrival policies.
