The Mediterranean Sea is the most porous border between Europe and its neighbours and the world’s most dangerous border between countries that are not at war with each other. Three facts emerge: sea routes to Europe are anything but new; places of embarkation and disembarkation have changed in relation to controls; and the risk of dying at sea has considerably increased over the last decade.
Two key questions for designing responses must be addressed: to what extent do the root causes of clandestine migration across the Mediterranean lie in the Mediterranean region itself; and how many in these flows are irregular labour migrants and how many are refugees? The Mare Nostrum operation launched by Italy will be discussed in terms of: rescues; compliance with European legislation; and possible pull effects on unauthorised migration. In conclusion, other possible responses will be brought up such as combatting the smugglers and pre-voyage intervention.
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