Socio-Economic Inequity and Decision-Making under Uncertainty: West African Migrants’ Journey across the Mediterranean to Europe

Understanding the nexus between poverty, inequality and decision-making under uncertainty in migrants’ journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe remains a significant challenge, raising intense scholarly debate. Several suggestions have been offered on how to reduce migrants’ journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in several guises, including the formulation and implementation of proper social, political and economic policies in Africa. Despite all odds and challenges, migrants from Africa cross state boundaries and stay in transit state(s) for limited periods, en route the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Underpinned by different migration theories and conceptual frameworks, our study applied a qualitative methodology to examine why migrants decide, under uncertainty, to cross the Mediterranean Sea from their countries of origin to the ultimate destinations in Europe. While focusing on the life experiences of purposively selected migrants from West Africa, the research seeks to address the underlying factors of irregular migration. The result of this empirical study clearly illustrates that limited access to opportunities, poverty and unemployment amidst precarious development challenges and the youth population bulge, exacerbate Africa’s migration crisis. The study finally brings into focus empirical observations and provides suggestions for stakeholders’ engagement in addressing African migration challenges.

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A Rapid Decision-Making Method for the Evaluationof Pollution-Sensitive Coastal Areas in the Mediterranean Sea

Environmental Management ◽

10.1007/s00267-003-0300-2 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 35 (6) ◽

pp. 811-820 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Michael O. Angelidis ◽

George Kamizoulis

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

The Mediterranean

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The Role of NGOs in Search and Rescue Operations in the Context of the European Union Migration Crisis

Analysis and Forecasting. IMEMO Journal ◽

10.20542/afij-2020-3-77-91 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 77-91

Author(s):

U. Stoliarova

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Search And Rescue ◽

The European Union ◽

Eu Member States ◽

Governmental Organizations ◽

Non Governmental Organizations ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Migration Crisis ◽

Immigration Issue

In the early 2010s due to the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, the European Union faced an unprecedented escalation of the migration problem, which put serious pressure on many EU mechanisms. The article analyzes Brussels’ response to the increase in the number of victims in the Mediterranean Sea during the migration crisis, which peaked in 2015. The adoption of new initiatives that were aimed at easing the immigration issue did not lead to the expected results. The EU struggled to cope with a rise in the number of migrants who sought to reach European shores. The real challenge for the arriving migrants was crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Amid the increase in unmanaged flows of refugees and regular shipwrecks that led to the death of many migrants, non-governmental organizations stepped out. The organization and conduct of search and rescue operations (SARs) by NGOs led to the emergence of a new type of SARs, non-state ones, since even large NGOs began to conduct such operations for the first time. The article examines the contribution of European non-governmental organizations to the provision of search and rescue operations, as well as analyzes the main problems and challenges that these NGOs faced while implementing such activities from 2014 to 2020. It is concluded that European non-governmental organizations have saved tens of thousands of lives of migrants and refugees, thus becoming an important element in the EU’s migration crisis settlement. At the same time, they faced a number of problems and challenges, including criticism from some EU member states, which considered the activities of NGOs as a pull-factor for new migrants.

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Mediterranean Sea Literacy: When Ocean Literacy becomes region- specific

Mediterranean Marine Science ◽

10.12681/mms.23400 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

MELITA MOKOS ◽

MARIA TH. CHEIMONOPOULOU ◽

PANAYOTA KOULOURI ◽

MONICA PREVIATI ◽

GIULIA REALDON ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Mediterranean Region ◽

Informed Decision Making ◽

Research Education ◽

Ocean Literacy ◽

Research Institutes ◽

The Us ◽

Sustainable Economy ◽

The Mediterranean

Ocean Literacy (OL) has been defined as an understanding of the ocean’s influence on people and their influence on the ocean. The OL movement was born in the US and its framework consisted of seven essential principles and 45 fundamental concepts; it is now largely accepted worldwide for use in both formal (schools and universities) and non-formal (research institutes, aquaria, museums, etc.) education settings. Based on this framework, marine scientists and educators developed the “Mediterranean Sea Literacy” (MSL) guide adapted to the specificities of the Mediterranean region, presented here. The MSL principles (7) and concepts (43), serving as guidance for research, education, informed decision-making, and improved citizens’ lifestyles, aim to contribute to environmental protection, conservation, and restoration of the Mediterranean Sea as well as to help to achieve a blue innovative and sustainable economy.

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TURKEY–EU RELATIONS AFTER THE CHANGE OF THE LEADERSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 1 DECEMBER 2019

Eastern Analytics ◽

10.31696/2227-5568-2020-04-024-046 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 24-46

Author(s):

Amur Gadjiev ◽

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

The European Union ◽

Eu Countries ◽

Main Factors ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Migration Crisis ◽

The Eu

This article attempts to identify and analyze the main factors that influenced the development of relations between Turkey and the European Union after the change in EU leadership, as well as highlight the main reasons that aggravated these relations until the outbreak of COVID-19. The threat of a sharp aggravation of the migration crisis in the EU countries against the background of the deteriorating situation in Syrian Idlib and the tightening of sanctions against Turkey in connection with its exploration work in the Mediterranean Sea created even greater foggy relations between Turkey and the EU.

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Mare Nostrum: the visual politics of a military-humanitarian operation in the Mediterranean Sea

Media Culture & Society ◽

10.1177/0163443716672296 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 11-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Pierluigi Musarò

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Communication Strategies ◽

Humanitarian Response ◽

Visual Politics ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Migration Crisis ◽

Border Controls ◽

The Military

Since the early 1990s, the ‘migration crisis’ has been high on Europe’s agenda and a main cause of concern for European citizens. In recent years, numerous activists and scholars have denounced how the militarisation of migration and border controls has been explicitly bound with notions of humanitarianism. As such, the current focus on both the securitarian and humanitarian sides of the phenomenon supports a more complex logic of threat and benevolence that allows for a security-humanitarian response. Assuming the launch of Mare Nostrum – the military-humanitarian operation in the Mediterranean targeted at both rescuing migrants and arresting smugglers – as a transformative moment in the communication strategies of Italy, this article examines the narratives produced by the Italian Navy during the operation, and how these invite us to witness them. Pivoting on the interrelated notions of ‘war imaginary’ and ‘emergency imaginary’, this article investigates how photographs and videos produced by Italian soldiers have contributed to represent the Mediterranean as a ‘humanitarian battlefield’. Thus, exploring the visual politics of Mare Nostrum within the broader framework of the new mediated warfare, it indicates how the bio-political imperative of managing lives is visually expressed through an aesthetic of trauma, where ‘war’ (on migrants) is represented both as an intimate experience of sorrow and as a public act of peacemaking.

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