Over 20 years of counter-smuggling legislation have failed to sustainably reduce irregular migration to Europe or protect migrants.
These measures have only ever had short-term effects. The vast security response that followed the summer of migration in 2015, for example, decreased arrivals. But the effect was only temporary, and numbers have since returned to pre-2015 levels.
A similar story can be told about the number of dead and missing people on Europe’s Mediterranean border. According to the International Organization for Migration, the annual toll peaked in 2016 (5,136 dead and missing) and then began to drop. It reached its lowest point in 2020 (1,450 dead and missing) before climbing again. The new peak it hit in 2023 (3,155 dead and missing) was a shade off the pre-2015 level. Over 30,000 people have died in the Mediterranean since 2014.
