The map of migrants tells the desperate journey towards more developed countries that costs the lives of thousands of human beings, including children, women, and the elderly, every day. Among them, forgotten by all, is little Kenzi, who was three years old when a wave overturned the boat that would have taken him from Algeria to Italy.
The map of migrants by Datalab Luiss is an interactive document of Data & Geo Storytelling that provides a representation of the deaths that occurred during migrations in recent years.
It’s an information and E-literacy tool for a central theme in the international socio-political debate in recent years, which has become the target of a massive disinformation campaign.
Conceived and realized by Luiss Data Lab in collaboration with the innovative startup Catchy, Alkemy Lab, and Kode Srl, the project, built on data, utilizes modern Geo Intelligence and Geo Visualization technologies. The intention is to communicate the phenomenon in its entirety, visually and spatially, without neglecting the individuality of the thousands of stories it comprises, the humanity they convey.
Click HERE to view it
The data used in the map of migrants
For the preparation of the reference dataset, open data made available by the Missing Migrants portal were analyzed and processed. These data were collected through official bulletins provided by governments and NGOs, news from traditional and social media, as well as testimonies and interviews with survivors. Information was collected by consulting multiple sources and comparing them with existing records to avoid counting deaths multiple times. The data, continuously updated, refer to deaths that occurred both on land and at sea.
The numbers remain staggering; since December 2013, the initial reference date, 47,278 men and women have lost their lives, including 2,561 children.
View the map
The geographical distribution of information is achieved through the use of Geo Intelligence tools that allow the precise location of each searched position on a world map.
The result is a world map showing all recorded deaths, visible as dots – red for adults, yellow for children – in the exact locations where the tragedies occurred. This provides a complete view of the routes that prove fatal for refugees, the darkest places of the massacre ignored by the media.
Interaction, from global to specific:
The opportunity offered by technology is the ability to change the scale, to “zoom in” on the map, to move from the macroscopic view of numbers to the suffering of an individual human being.
With a click, you can read information about the event: date, causes, description, number of deaths and missing persons, any survivors, with links to the data source. You can then customize the display of different datasets, vary the time interval, isolate information about adults or children, and view the evolution of routes over different time periods. Another informative feature is the ability to select different routes, each with its specific narrative.
Junior, Ali, Mamadou, Boubacar. The scrolling names, along with images provided by Oxfam Italy e Doctors Without Borders , show us the faces of the tragedy, the victims behind the data.
Map of migrants: the main routes, the Mediterranean:
“Some think they will find a better life in Europe, while others flee from war. But all feel they have no other choice.” These are the words of Hakim Bello, who came from Nigeria to Libya, where he crossed Europe’s most dangerous route: the Central Mediterranean. Over 17,800 people have died in that stretch of sea in the period considered. It is the route we are most familiar with, that of the boats departing from the Libyan coast, hoping to be rescued in international waters by military ships or NGOs. Many of the migrants were held captive in Libyan detention centers for months, enduring violence and abuse. The destination, Lampedusa, is about 140 kilometers from the Tunisian coast. “While in previous years it was the destination of large ships, today the traffic is mostly made up of small wooden boats departing from Tunisia,” wrote Annalisa Camilli in Internazionale magazine.
The main entry channel into Italy is the Eastern Mediterranean, from Turkey through the Greek islands. There is no precise data on this flow, which also includes so-called “ghost landings,” small boats that depart from Turkish shores and arrive in Salento or Calabria. “We are talking about Syrian immigrants, Kurds, Pakistanis, almost all heading to Germany, economic migrants, educated, informed families. They pay a lot and are made to travel in almost acceptable conditions,” said Giuseppe Capocci, the prosecutor of Crotone, to Corriere della Sera. On June 3, 2018, a motorboat with 15 people on board suffered a breakdown and sank off the Turkish coast. Two men, a woman, and six children lost their lives. “The smugglers put us on a boat; I thought there would be a captain, but there was no one, no one on board knew how to navigate, it would have taken ten minutes to reach the Greek coast, but we were stuck in the same place for two hours, and in the end, it sank,” recounted a surviving Syrian.
The Strait of Gibraltar is only 14 kilometers wide, and between the coasts of Andalusia and Morocco, it is at most 200 kilometers apart. It is the route of the Western Mediterranean, crossed mainly by Moroccan citizens. The Spanish government has built enormous fences that separate Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish autonomous cities surrounded by Morocco. Thousands of people try to climb the fences; that of Melilla, nicknamed “the barrier,” is high, menacing, and built on multiple levels.
The English Channel:
Once in Europe, many immigrants seek to move to countries that offer more opportunities. Until 2018, most of them wanted to reach the United Kingdom but died trying to climb onto trucks and trains before entering the Channel Tunnel. Since 2018, increased border controls have made this option impossible and effectively opened a new route, one that connects the Breton town of Calais to Dover in England. Furthermore, after Brexit, it became more complicated to reach the UK through legal means, such as family reunification. While the French and British governments are discussing border control, on November 24, 2021, a boat sank off the coast of Calais, and 27 people died in the worst tragedy in the channel.
The Balkans:
The sea is not the only escape route. Strengthened borders and the establishment of the European Border Police, Frontex, have restricted passages near the Balkan countries. To respond to the provocations of Belarusian President Lukashenko, who is using migration flows to blackmail the European Union, pushing refugees toward Poland’s border, Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki deployed twelve thousand soldiers to “defend European borders.” This has left thousands of people stranded in no man’s land, inaccessible to humanitarian organizations.
Mexico:
“Death rides the Rio Bravo” is the title of a 1961 Sam Peckimpah Western film, but it is also what is still happening today on the banks of the river that divides the two states. Threatened by border police, migrants throw themselves into the Rio Bravo and drown. Other illegal immigrants attempt to cross the border packed into trucks, but traffic accidents are frequent.
During his term, former U.S. President Trump made it more difficult to request asylum and, using the pretext of the pandemic, strengthened border closures. At the beginning of 2021, current U.S. President Biden suspended the immigration program “Remain in Mexico,” which involves immediate expulsion pending authorities’ decisions. However, the Supreme Court deemed the decision “arbitrary and unjustified,” forcing the administration to reinstate it.
“Bingo!” written on a white sign in sparkling red letters is the first thing survivors see after crossing the border between Mexico and Texas. It’s an advertisement for an arcade not far away, but for those crossing a border, it seems like a reminder: to arrive and have a dignified life in Western states, you must be lucky.
Article by Enzo Panizio and Niccolò Ferrero, students of the Master’s in Journalism and Multimedia Communication at LUISS Guido Carli University.
