Rabat – A recent survey titled “The Fatal Policies of Fortress Europe” by anti-racist group UNITED has revealed that a total of 48,647 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers have died since 1993. The group notably blames these deaths on the practices and policies of the EU member states.
“Death by Policy – Time for Change!,” reads one of the report’s subheadings, attributing the fatalities recorded in the last 28 years to Europe’s border militarization, asylum policies, detention practices, and deportation laws.
“In the period 1993-2022, at least 48.647 documented refugee deaths can be attributed to the ‘Fatal Policies of Fortress Europe’,” UNITED said, estimating that a larger number of bodies have never been discovered.
The term “fortress Europe” is often used to describe the way Europe controls its borders, as well as its policies and negative attitudes toward migrants and asylum seekers.
UNITED released a list of the 48,647 documented fatalities, providing a summary of each migrant/refugee’s death location and date, as well as the circumstance under which they died. The list also provides personal information on the deceased, including name, age, and region of origin.
The number of fatalities among migrants and refugees the survey provided is around 8,000 higher than the data UNITED released on World Refugee Day in 2022.
Read also: UN Migrant Workers Committee Satisfied with Morocco’s Open-Door Migration Policy
UNTED’s “Fatal Policies of Fortress Europe” is an “on-going campaign” against the “deadly consequences of the building of Fortress Europe,” the group said, adding that it has been tracking Fortress Europe’s “fatal results” since 1993.
The “Fatal Policies of Fortress Europe” campaign is an attempt to denounce and shed light on the “exclusionist policies of the EU,” UNITED stressed, expressing hope that raising awareness about this issue will force European governments to reevaluate their migration policies and “develop a human vision on migration.”
In a report released last year, the United Nations rights office blamed the European Union’s illegal “pushback” and obstruction of humanitarian rescue efforts for cases of deaths and missing people in the Mediterranean sea.
According to a United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) report, more than 3,000 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers died or went missing last year while crossing the Mediterranean and Atlantic routes to reach Europe.
In a 2021 report, the United Nations rights office charged that the European Union’s illegal pushbacks were responsible for cases of fatalities and missing persons in the Mediterranean Sea.
