Precarious Trajectories: Understanding the Human Cost of the Migrant Crisis in the Central Mediterranean.

Context

In the first six months of 2015 a series of tragic vessel sinkings in the Mediterranean resulting in hundreds of migrant deaths forced the European Union to reconsider its refusal to support the Italian Navy's search and rescue operation Mare Nostrum, which had been suspended due to a funding dispute in October 2014. In April 2015 the European Council convened an emergency summit at which it was agreed to resume official search and rescue operations. The budget for the Operation Triton border surveillance and search and rescue operation was tripled and Germany, Ireland and the UK agreed to commit naval vessels to support the operation. By June 2015 some 137,000 migrants had made the sea crossing to Southern Europe with Greece (68,000) and Italy (67,500) taking the vast majority of new arrivals according to the UNHCR.

While the focus of European policy makers and the western media has centred on the Mediterranean because its dangerous international waters are now the last resort for those desperately fleeing conflict, forced conscription and destitution from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and beyond-the precarious trajectories and the hidden harms experienced by the irregular migrants and refugees are often overlooked and ignored.

Aims and Objectives of the Proposal

In order to develop a rigorous, evidence based account of the human cost of the current Mediterranean emergency we therefore propose a research agenda that seeks to understand and demonstrate

(i) how the Mediterranean crossing is only a segment of more extensive and complex migration trajectories, linking distant countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia on the one side, and splintering across European space on the other
(ii) how different state and non-state actors can add or reduce friction to the mobility of migrants, thus shaping the directionality of migrants' trajectories as well as the risks to life and liberty faced by migrants and their families, and
(iii) how conventional governmental and media representations can be qualified or challenged by giving voice to migrants as knowledge bearing subjects.

In adopting a research perspective that allows us to identify and trace the precarious trajectories of a constantly changing population in search of protection we will also seek to document and explore

- the hidden harms that are experienced by and carried with 'illegalised' migrant populations
- the complicity of state and non-state actors in both failing to protect those in need because of their nationality status/statelessness and in actively contributing to the physical and psychological risks they face in escaping destitution and danger
- the role of official organisations and NGOs in promoting a humanitarian response to the migrant crisis and in generally mitigating harm
- the official and media representation of migrant subjects as bearers of 'collective harm' and radical 'otherness' with respect to western populations, economies and cultural and religious values
- facilitating alternative representations through auto-ethnography and other migrant subject based counter-narratives

Potential Applications and Benefits

Our multidisciplinary approach will lead to outputs of different formats including

-a documentary film
-videos of migrants testimonies and of field visits
-maps of migrants' trajectories and of the spatial practices of the actors they encounter
-written analyses, articles and reports to be published in academic, policy and news contexts

These outputs will not only allow us to engage a broad public, our insights will be crucial for policy makers in terms of enabling them to better understand how policies translate at the ground level, and what - at times unexpected - consequences they may have, in particular in terms of making migrants trajectories more or less dangerous or addressing the challenges of integration under the current EU asylum and refugee protocols.

We anticipate that the in-project impact of Precarious Trajectories will be measured in terms of a greater public awareness of the complexity of the migrant trajectory and the factors that shape it, the varied motives for attempting (or not) the Mediterranean crossing and the conditions faced by migrants prior to, during and after the crossing.

Using previous ESRC Urgent Calls as evaluation benchmarks we will measure visits to the project website and video host channel, Facebook likes and shares, and Twitter follows, shares and reads together with attendance at lectures, talks and media interview reach. We also aim to target key policy-makers, decision-takers and stakeholders in the national and EU migration field through our electronic mailing list and other relevant distribution lists with a special focus on the preliminary findings report for which a press launch will be held in London and Palermo 6 months into the project. In the first phase of the research our impact activity will centre on co-producing a constantly updated digital archive of migrant trajectory narratives and maps through our project website and YouTube/Vimeo video channel. The website will feature videos of migrants' testimonies and of field visits, maps of migrants' trajectories and of the spatial practices of the actors they encounter, as well as written analysis, articles and reports, in a way that operates similarly to Forensic Oceanography's page dedicated to the Left-to-die boat case (http://www.forensic-architecture.org/case/left-die-boat/) but expanded to multiple trajectories and with a broader geographic focus. We will work with the ESRC communications team to distribute news of these resources and noteworthy updates and additions to relevant UK social science audiences, policy makers and advisors, third sector organisations, key stakeholders and interested members of the public.

The medium-term impact will centre on the end of project conference in Geneva in collaboration with UNHCR (target=minimum of 100 delegates) and online conference proceedings with follow-up post-project workshop activities in London and York together with the documentary film showings and on-line release. We will work closely with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism to co-develop an investigative stream on the Mediterranean Crisis that will feature on the highly visited BIJ and which will form the basis of news and current affairs stories for national/international TV, radio and the press. We will also collaborate with humanitarian organisations including WatchTheMed and Amnesty International in sharing and publicising our data through joint media events where possible and appropriate.

We see the main long term impact in terms of sustained collaboration with the Mayor and City Council of Palermo around the 'sono umano' (I am human) project to develop a network of European cities committed to a more humanitarian response to the migrant crisis and to freedom of movement that will draw on the Precarious Trajectories research materials and academic publications as a strong evidence base. We also aim to use the documentary film as a continuing vehicle for publicising the project's main findings at public meetings, conferences and workshops. Follow up interviews with the research team around the documentary's subsequent screenings at film festivals will ensure a continued media presence for the project 2-3 years after completion.We would measure impact in terms of the use of our research materials by policy makers, NGOs and media outlets together with final project report and academic paper mentions and citations.