With the aftermath of the Afghanistan and Ukrainian conflicts, and unprecedented 100 million people around the world have been displaced[1]. European frontier countries such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece receive a disproportionate amount of refugees as compared to other Schengen countries. Many arrive from along the Central Mediterranean route, where Migrant boats leave from Libya and cross the Mediterranean sea to Malta or Italy.
According to the International Organization for Migration, over 650,000 migrants from over 41 nationalities arrived in Libya in 2022[2].
Since 2014, there have been over 20,000 deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Roughly 1,900 in 2021 alone[3]. The accurate number of deaths cannot be ascertained, as some of the bodies of those who’ve drowned were never recovered. During the 2016 European refugee crisis, over 5000 lives were lost on the Mediterranean Sea, on average 6 per day, making the Central Mediterranean route the deadliest in the world[4].
With climate change, conflict, and economic collapse, the number of displaced people globally is growing. The 2016 refugee crisis revealed major shortcomings in how the EU manages refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. This sparked heated conversation within the EU, and materialized into a series of sequential agreements, policies, and laws that landed on the newly designed EU framework which aimed to manage and normalize the new face of migration for the long term.
Part of this agreement was to invest in external border controls within the EU. FrontEx was established to reinforce national border fences, protect EU external borders, and ensure tighten passport controls existed across EU’s external border. FrontEx has the capacity to go beyond frontier countries, where they have the mandate and manpower to patrol countries where the migrant flows originate from. This is an attempt to thwart migration at its source.
The budget since onset of FrontEx has grown exponentially. From just under €100-million in 2014, EU’s multiannual framework for 2022-2029 forecasts €5.6-billion will be spent, which can be surmised as €800-million per annum. These funds are growing towards building personnel, purchasing and adapting new technologies, and increasing overall reach[5]. For instance, in 2020 FrontEx was granted a €50-million contract to the defense arm of airbus and Israel airbus industries to operate maritime surveillance with drones[6]. Though these drones are not capable of carrying weapons, an additional €50-million contract was awarded to a separate Israeli weapons manufacturer to use drones to survey the same region.
According to international and EU law, naval patrols are obligated to assist vessels in distress. Drones therefore operate outside of said laws and are not legally obligated to assist and or deliver migrants to shore[7].
Other preventative tactics have been through humanitarian or economic incentives. According to ODI, between 2014-2016, Europe spent €17-billion trying to reduce refugee and migrant numbers before they arrived at European shorelines[8]. This has been spent in Libya’s surrounding countries such as Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Egypt.
In Tunisia, Italy spent €200-million in aid and credit lines to Tunisian citizens to create jobs and was given to stem the flow of migrants[9]. Niger was paid over €1-billion in development aid to stop the flow of migrants[10]. Germany was sending development aid to Chad for €300-million even though Chad has an abysmal human rights record[11]. In 2018, Sudan made a $200-million migration deal with the EU to stop the flow of migrants[12]. In 2022, the European commission provided €80-million euros to Egypt’s coast guard for “better equipment”[13]. In 2022, Italian energy group Eni signed an energy deal with Algeria’s Sonatrach to gradually raise flows in the transmed pipeline. As a result, Algeria plans to grant residency rights and job permits to illegal migrants as a way of responding to the shortage of agriculturalists[14].
Europe will threaten to cut development or humanitarian aid programming if Libya’s neighbouring countries do not stop the flow of migration. Many of Libya’s neighbouring countries lack a clear and legal framework to manage migrants or asylum seekers, or to govern asylum in general. Libya for instance still does not have one. In 2008, Algeria adopted Law No. 08-1 which made it more difficult to migrants to normalize their status in Algeria, forcing many to leave or work informally at risk of detention or deportation[15].
There are no safeguards in place to ensure the funds are being allocated appropriately. Many of the deals use ambiguous language, suggesting it is up to the receiving country or aid group to determine use of funds. Unfortunately, this leads to the creation of new unlawful institutions or enriching questionable organizations with funds which legitimize their actions. For instance, Libya has received more than €327-million from the EU to stem the flow of migrants[16]. Libya does not have a unified government, where these huge sums of money have been diverted amongst the intertwined networks of militia, human traffickers, and the Libyan coast guard.
Though these funds are detailed by the EU to provide humanitarian aid, or equipment for Libya’s coast guard, it has been found these funds are directly going into the pockets of those who receive them. They have been repurposed to strengthen trafficking networks, detainment centers, and militia strengthening. Detainment in Libya is through both official and unofficial detention centers where migrants have cited abuse, sexual exploitation, starvation, slavery, and other human rights abuses. Critica Research & Analysis (2020) stated “an entire government unit has profited from the trafficking, detainment and human rights abuse of migrants”[17].
[1] UNHCR (2022) More Than 100 Million People are Forcibly Displaced
[2] European Council (2022) Migration Flows in the Central Mediterranean Route
[3] UN (April 29, 2022) Deaths at Sea on Migrant Routes to Europe Almost Double, Year on Year
[4] UN (January 30, 2019) ‘World’s Deadliest Sea Crossing’ Claimed Six Lives a Day in 2018: UN Refugee Agency
[5] Europol (2022) Finance & Budget
[6] Airbus (October 20, 2020) European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FrontEx) Selects Airbus and its Partner IAI for Maritime Aerial Surveillance with Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)
[7] Jolly, J (October 20, 2020) Airbus to Operate Drones Searching for Migrants Crossing the Mediterranean. The Guardian
[8] Hargrave H, Foresti M, Massa I, Dempster H, & Rea J. Europe Spends Over €17 Billion to Curb Migration. ODI
[9] Gumuchian, M-L (April 5, 2011) Italy, Tunisia sign Deal to Ease Migrant Crisis. Reuters
[10] Penney J (August 25, 2018) Europe Benefits by Bankrolling an Anti-Migrant Effort. Niger Pays a Price. New York Times
[11] DW Learn German. Many Question the EU’s Financial Support of Chad
[12] Chander, C (January 30, 2018) Inside the EU’s Flawed $200 million Migration Deal with Sudan. The New Humanitarian.
[13] Middle East Monitor (June 20, 2022) Concerns for Human Rights as EU Promises Egypt $84M in Migration Deal
[14] Wallis E (July 19, 2022) Gas, Migration, and Business on Agenda as Italy Signs Further Accords with Algeria. Info Migrants
[15] Pistoia D (July 10, 2019) Why Algeria is Emptying Itself of African Migrant Workers. The New Humanitarian
[16] Michael M, Hinnant L, & Brito R (December 30, 2019) Making Misery Pay: Libya Militias Take EU Funds for Migrants. AP News
[17] Nadia Al-Dayel, Aaron Anfinson & Graeme Anfinson (2021): Captivity, Migration, and Power in Libya, Journal of Human Trafficking, DOI: 10.1080/23322705.2021.1908032, p.5
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