In the first six months of 2015 more than 100,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean, arriving at the shores of southern Europe in search of protection or a better life. In the same period more than 1,800 people lost their lives, drowning as overloaded and often unseaworthy boats sank into the sea. By the end of 2015, this had risen to the unprecedented figure of one million arrivals and nearly 4,000 recorded deaths.
In 2015-16 I led the MEDMIG project which set out to better understand these migration dynamics as part of the Mediterranean Migration Research Programme established through the ESRC’s £1 million ‘Urgency Grant’, co-funded by the Department for International Development.
The study was based on a multi-sited transnational research design to simultaneously gather and analyse data from a large number of migrants. We conducted 500 semi-structured interviews with migrants, who crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe during 2015. We worked with our international partners in each country to carry out these interviews in Greece (Athens, Lesbos) and Italy, (Sicily, Apulia, Rome, Piedmont, Bologna), Malta and Turkey (Izmir). We also carried out over 100 interviews with governmental, non-governmental and civil society organisations to gather broader insights into the experiences and journeys of the migrants with whom they come into contact. Finally, ethnographic observations were also conducted at each site.
Our analysis was grounded within existing meta-level frameworks for understanding migrant journeys, including the political and policy contexts within which this migration takes place.
We also explored the structural determinants of migration at the meso-level, focusing on both the opportunities and constraints that shape migration. Doing so enabled us to take account of the cognitive and behavioural processes that shape migration at the micro-level, including aspirations, individual perceptions including perceptions of risk, decision making and the interaction of migrants with the different actors including smugglers that facilitate migration.
Drawing on the voices and experiences of those who made the journey and a rich understanding of EU and Member States responses to this multi-faceted migration flow, the project provided a new conceptual and empirical framework for understanding unprecedented levels of migration and loss of life in the Mediterranean seen during the so-called ‘migration crisis’ of 2015. It resulted in numerous outputs including a Policy Press book called Unravelling Europe’s ‘migration crisis: journeys over land and sea available here.
Resources
Crawley, H. (2023) ‘How Europe’s policies are contributing to the migration crisis’, Journal of the European Court of Auditors 2, 21-25
Crawley, H. and Kaytaz, E. (2022) ‘Between a rock and a hard place: Afghan migration to Europe from Iran’, Social Inclusion 10(3)
Crawley, H. (2021) ‘The politics of refugee protection in a (post)COVID-19 world’, Social Sciences 10(3), 81 )
Crawley, H. and Jones, K. (2020) Beyond here and there: (re)conceptualising migrant journeys and the ‘in-between’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47 (14), 3226-3242
Crawley, H. and Hagen-Zanker, J. (2018) Deciding where to go: policies, people and perceptions shaping destination preferences, International Migration 15(1), 20-35
Baldwin-Edwards, M., Blitz, B.K. and Crawley, H. (2018) The politics of evidence-based policy in Europe’s ‘migration crisis’, editorial introduction for Special Issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 45(12), 2139-2155
Crawley, H. and Blitz, B.K. (2018) ‘Common Agenda or Europe’s agenda? International protection, human rights and migration from the Horn of Africa’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Crawley, H., Düvell, F., Jones, K., McMahon, S. and Sigona, N. (2018) Unravelling Europe’s Migration Crisis’: Journeys Over Land and Sea, Bristol: Policy Press
Crawley, H. and Skleparis, D. (2017) ‘Refugee, migrant, neither, both: categorical fetishism and the politics of bounding in Europe’s ‘migration crisis’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44(1), 48-64
McConnell, F., Crawley, H., Jeffrey, A., Kuus, M., Smith, A. and Vaughan-Williams, N. (2017) ‘Interventions on Europe’s political futures’, Political Geography 60, 261-71
Crawley, H., Düvell, F., Jones, K., McMahon, S. and Sigona, N. (2016) Destination Europe? Understanding the Dynamics and Drivers of Mediterranean Migration in 2015, MEDMIG Final Report, Coventry University
Crawley, H., Duvell, F., Jones, K. and Skleparis, D. (2016) ‘Understanding the dynamics of migration to Greece and the EU: drivers, decisions and destinations’, MEDMIG Research Brief No.2, Coventry University
Crawley, H. (2016) ‘Managing the unmanageable? Understanding Europe’s response to the migration ‘crisis’, Human Geography – Special Issue on Geographical Perspectives on the European ‘Migration and Refugee Crisis’, 9(2), 13-23
Crawley, H., Duvell, F., Sigona, N., McMahon, S. and Jones, K. (2016) Unpacking a rapidly changing scenario: migration flows, routes and trajectories across the Mediterranean, MEDMIG Research Brief No. 1
Crawley, H. (2016) Beyond ‘mass movement’: understanding the dynamics of migration into Greece, Humanitarian Exchange 67, 10-14
Heaven Crawley 