Hi Tom,
The Human Costs of Border Control research project is not aiming to find the exact numbers. It is simply impossible. To do this, you must be able to track every human being in the Mediterranean sea in real time (many people are lost in the sea) and also know their intention (they can be fisherman, tourist etc, not only migrants). Within this research, we choose to collect official records (deaths certificates, coroner's reports, graveyard registrations etc.). Also database is covering only EU side of the Med Sea. For a more clear picture, North Africa and Turkey must be (and we are planing to) included to the database.
As Marieke mentioned in a previous mail, we want to calculate a mortality rate, which will be compared with changes in European border policies. The aim of this database is to fill some of the gaps, and serve as a new, complementary resource to enable further analysis and research.
But of course, when you collect that much information from the field, there are other ways to use the data. Thats why the database was made public, to let other researchers/institutions also use it in their work. Interactive visualisation that can be found on the home page of the website is for the public awareness purposes.
Just one example (but very important) is identifying the dead migrants and helping their families to locate the body. A version which includes private info (such as name, DoB, nationality etc) will be shared with Red Cross and Red Crescent and to be included to their already existing missing people database. Public version (which is on the website) does not include these personal identification infos.
About the numbers: Fortress Europe and United did (and doing) a great job. Today we have an estimation because of their work! But their databases are based on media and NGO reports and these reports may give different numbers than the real numbers. As Chiara wrote in her previous mail, in some cases survivors or media report 300 to 500 migrants in a boat, only 5-6 bodies are found by the authorities.
We are trying to be careful about our messages to the media. We did not put focus to the numbers in our press release on purpose (but rather focused on identification). Of course it may be quoted in a wrong way but this is something that we (nobody) can do nothing about (except Kim Jong-un of course!). Until now, it looks like it worked. Media coverage about the database is not about the numbers as far as I could see.
Best,
Orcun
Hi Orcun
I would like to understand better the motivation for collecting statistics in this way ? and to ask if you think there is not a danger that the lower figures could be taken into account and quoted by medias and possibly without the explanations that are given on the site
Dear Chiara,
Your questions are answered in detail there...
Best,
Orcun
3188 deaths at the borders of Europe between 1990 and 2013? looks like a very conservative estimate! Maybe I haven't understood well?
Fortress Europe, blog of Italian journalist Gabriele del Grande, say 21.439 people at least died since 1988, the blog is updated until 30 June 2014,http://fortresseurope.blogspot.co.uk/
All estimates of migrants deaths only include cases that are reported by media, governmental or non-governmental organizations - the authors of the IOM report do state it is not a very good system, and the total numbers are certainly higher. The large majority of border deaths worldwide occur in the Med (75% according to IOM) but personally I am not sure the various estimates of deaths in the Sahara are at all realistic (1% according to IOM, I would not believe it for a second!) and deaths in the Sahara may be grossly under-estimated - they do not get reported by media, governments and NGOs.
ALL THESE BODY COUNTS DO NOT INCLUDE 2015, THE DEADLIEST YEAR EVER.
Finally, how do we count, since in the deadliest shipwreck there were '950' people on board, according to one of the survivors, '700' according to another and '800' according to most 'official' estimates, maybe they done a sum of the two previous numbers and divided, roughly, by 2? only 28 survived and very few bodies were found.
www.borderdeaths.org
The Deaths at the Borders Database is the first collection of official,
state-produced evidence on people who died while attempting to reach
southern EU countries from the Balkans, the Middle East, and North &
West Africa, and whose bodies were found in or brought to Europe.
Each of the dots in the chart below corresponds to one dead migrant
documented by local authorities in Italy, Malta, Spain, Gibraltar and
Greece, from 1/1/1990 to 31/12/2013.
Eine Datenbank für Grenztote ("Deaths at the Borders database") ist ab heute, 12. Mai 2015, unter folgendem link frei zugänglich:
www.borderdeaths.org
Sie wurde von Wissenschaftlern der Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam auf der
Basis der Todesurkunden von Migranten erstellt, die in den Jahren
1990-2013 an den südlichen EU-Grenzen ums Leben gekommen sind.
Die Datenbank bietet individualisierte Informationen über 3.188
Menschen, die ums Leben gekommen sind beim Versuch, aus dem Balkan, dem
Nahen Osten, sowie Nord- und Westafrika die südlichen EU-Länder zu
erreichen, und deren Leichen in diesen EU-Ländern geborgen bzw. dorthin
gebracht wurden.
