Vol. 13 No. 79 (2024)
Articles

The challenge of irregular migration in the Aegean Sea: an analysis of its causes, impact, and solutions

PDF HTML EPUB
  • Erdi Demir,
  • Leyla Derviş
Erdi Demir
Akdeniz University, Turkey.
Bio
Leyla Derviş
Akdeniz University, Turkey.
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2024.79.07.16

Published 2024-07-30

Keywords

  • irregular migration, Aegean Sea, Greece-Turkey corridor, refugee.

How to Cite

Demir, E., & Derviş, L. (2024). The challenge of irregular migration in the Aegean Sea: an analysis of its causes, impact, and solutions. Amazonia Investiga, 13(79), 203–216. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2024.79.07.16

Copyright (c) 2024 Erdi Demir, Leyla Derviş

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This article examines irregular migration in the Aegean Sea, focusing on its causes, consequences, and countermeasures. The study employed a narrative literature review to identify key themes and synthesize findings on irregular migration, offering a qualitative and interpretative overview of the current situation along the Eastern Mediterranean route. The research delves into the complexities of illegal human movements in the Aegean, analyzing statistical data on sea arrivals and apprehensions. The Turkey-Greece corridor's appeal for asylum seekers is explored, alongside contributing factors to the increase in irregular migration. The refugee crisis has prompted Greece and the EU to implement strategies such as Frontex, Integrated Border Management, Hellenic Coast Guard modernization, agreements with neighboring countries, and enhanced border security to address this challenge.

PDF HTML EPUB

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Alarcón, F. J. (2022). The Migrant Crisis and Access to Health Care. Delaware Journal of Public Health, 8(4), 20-25. doi: 10.32481/djph.2022.10.006
  2. Alencar, A., Kondova, K., & Ribbens, W. (2019). The smartphone as a lifeline: An exploration of refugees’ use of mobile communication technologies during their flight. Media, Culture & Society, 41(6), 828-844. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443718813486
  3. Alpes, M. J., Tunaboylu, S., Ulusoy, O., & Hassan, S. (2017). Post-deportation risks under the EU-Turkey statement: What happens after readmission to Turkey? Policy Briefs, (30). https://hdl.handle.net/1814/49005
  4. Ambrosini, M., & Hajer, M. H. J. (2023). Irregular Migration. Springer. https://acortar.link/SxSt9t
  5. Augustova, K., Carrapico, H., & Obradović-Wochnik, J. (2021). Becoming a Smuggler: Migration and Violence at EU External Borders. Geopolitics, 28(2), 619-640. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2021.1961223
  6. Baker-Beall, C. (2019). The Threat of the ‘Returning Foreign Fighter’: The Securitization of EU Migration and Border Control Policy. Security Dialogue, 50(5), 437-453. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26979702
  7. Ballière, L. (2023). From Iran to the Netherlands, and everywhere in between: Irregular migration and human smuggling from Iran to the Netherlands (1988–1989 and 2009–2010). Iranian Studies, 56(3), 523-551. https://doi.org/10.1017/irn.2023.31
  8. Basheer, A. (2022). The Art and Science of Writing Narrative Reviews. International Journal of Advanced Medical and Health Research, 9(2), 124-126. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijamr.ijamr_234_22
  9. Beste, İ. (2021). Technology and Territorial Change in Conflict Settings: Migration Control in the Aegean Sea. International Studies Quarterly, 65(4), 1087-1096. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqab046
  10. Blouchoutzi, A., Tsaples, G., Manou, D., & Papathanasiou, J. (2023). Investigating Public–Private Cooperation in Migrant Labor Market Integration: A System Dynamics Study to Explore the Challenge for Greece. Economies, 11(2, Article 38). https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11020038
  11. Boissonneault, M., & Costa, R. (2023). Experts’ assessments of migration scenarios between the Middle East & North Africa and Europe. Scientific Data, 10, Article 640. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02532-1
  12. Castiglione, D. (2022). Reconstructing the expansion and consolidation of immigration detention infrastructure in Greece (1993-2018). REMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana, 30(64), 81-100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1980-85852503880006406
  13. Çavuşoğlu, M. (2016). Turkey and Syrian Refugee Crisis: An Example for humanity. Turkish Policy Quarterly, 17-24. https://acortar.link/VQ4Q9Y
  14. Çıtak, E. (2019). The effect of globalization on migration-security relationship. The Academic Elegance, 6(12), 95-117. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/907023
  15. Cusumano, E., & Riddervold, M. (2023). Failing through: European migration governance across the central Mediterranean. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(12), 3024-3042. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2193713
  16. Digidiki, V., & Bhabha, J. (2020). EU Migration Pact Fails to Address Human Rights Concerns in Lesvos, Greece. Health and Human Rights, 22(2), 291-296. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7762917/
  17. Dimitriadi, A. (2023). The Greek Asylum Regime: From Latecomer on Reception to Inspirational Model on Asylum Procedures. In C. Finotelli & I. Ponzo (Eds.), Migration Control Logics and Strategies in Europe (pp. 303-321). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26002-5_16
  18. Dimitriadi, A. (2022). Governing Migrant (Im)mobility in Greece After the EU-Turkey Statement. In M. Kousis, A. Chatzidaki, & K. Kafetsios (Eds.), Challenging Mobilities in and to the EU during Times of Crises (pp. 221-239). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11574-5_11
  19. Dinas, E., Matakos, K., Xefteris, D., & Hangartner, D. (2019). Waking up the Golden Dawn: Does exposure to the refugee crisis increase support for extreme-right parties? Political Analysis, 27(2), 244-254. https://doi.org/10.1017/pan.2018.48
  20. Echeverría, G. (2020). Irregular Migration Theories. In Towards a Systemic Theory of Irregular Migration (pp. 41-94). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40903-6_3
  21. Ferwerda, J., & Gest, J. (2021). Pull factors and migration preferences: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa. International Migration Review, 55(2), 431-459. https://doi.org/10.1177/0197918320949825
  22. Filipova, M., Iliev, K., & Yuleva-Chuchulyan, R. (2021). A transhumanist legal worldview: Responding to the challenges of time (Requirement, or necessity?). Futurity Economics&Law, 1(1), 28-37. https://doi.org/10.57125/FEL.2021.03.25.5
  23. Frontex. (2019). European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Risk Analysis for 2019. Warsaw. https://www.frontex.europa.eu/publications/risk-analysis-for-2019-RPPmXE
  24. Frontex. (2021). Annual Implementation Report 2021. https://prd.frontex.europa.eu/document/annual-implementation-report-2021/
  25. Frontex. (2022). Annual Implementation Report 2022. https://prd.frontex.europa.eu/document/annual-implementation-report-2022/
  26. Frontex. (2023a). Annual Brief 2023. https://www.frontex.europa.eu/assets/Publications/General/Annual_Brief_2023.pdf
  27. Frontex. (2023b). EU’s external borders in 2022: Number of irregular border crossings highest since 2016. News Release. https://acortar.link/nGHdr3
  28. Galantino, M. G. (2022). The migration–terrorism nexus: An analysis of German and Italian press coverage of the ‘refugee crisis’. European Journal of Criminology, 19(2), 259-281. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370819896213
  29. Guresci, E. (2022). Agricultural factors as the root cause of rural migration from a global perspective. Cuadernos de Desarrollo Rural, 19, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.cdr19.afrc
  30. Haddeland, H. B. (2021). ‘Victims not wrongdoers’: The legal consciousness of rejected asylum seekers in Norway. Journal of Law and Society, 48, 645-668. https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12327
  31. HCG. (2021). Roles and Responsibilities. https://www.hcg.gr/en/organization/duties/
  32. İçduygu, A., & Altıok, B. (2024). Root causes of irregular migration in the Eastern Mediterranean: The case of Afghans and Syrians. In R. Zapata-Barrero & I. Awad (Eds.). Migrations in the Mediterranean (pp. 191-205). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42264-5_12
  33. Jacqué, P. (2023, June 29). EU seeks migration cooperation agreements with North African countries. Le Monde. https://acortar.link/IzjJNC
  34. Janmyr, M., & Skribeland, Ö. G. (2020). Human rights references in Norway’s readmission agreements: (How) do they protect? Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 38(1), 18-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/18918131.2020.1776955
  35. Javanbakht, A. (2022). Addressing war trauma in Ukrainian refugees before it is too late. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 13(2), Article 2104009. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2022.2104009
  36. Karamanidou, L., & Kasparek, B. (2022). From exception to extra-legal normality: pushbacks and racist state violence against people crossing the Greek-Turkish land border. State Crime Journal, 11(1), 12-32. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48675911
  37. Katsanevakis, S. (2015). Illegal immigration in the eastern Aegean Sea: A new source of marine litter. Mediterranean Marine Science, 16(3), 605-608. https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.1463
  38. Keady-Tabbal, N., & Mann, I. (2023). Weaponizing rescue: Law and the materiality of migration management in the Aegean. Leiden Journal of International Law, 36(1), 61-82. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0922156522000528
  39. Kinacioğlu, M. (2023). Militarized governance of migration in the Mediterranean. International Affairs, 99(6), 2423-2441. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiad232
  40. Kousis, M., Chatzidaki, A., & Kafetsios, K. (2022). Introduction: Challenging Mobilities, Greece and the EU in Times of Crises. In M. Kousis, A. Chatzidaki, K. Kafetsios (eds) Challenging Mobilities in and to the EU during Times of Crises. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11574-5_1
  41. Kryvoshein, V. (2023). Transformation of political perceptions in the age of information technologies: Analyzing the impact on political beliefs. Futurity of Social Sciences, 1(3), 20-32. https://doi.org/10.57125/FS.2023.09.20.02
  42. Kuschminder, K., & Waidler, J. (2020). At Europe’s frontline: Factors determining migrants' decision making for onwards migration from Greece and Turkey. Migration and Development, 9(2), 188-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/21632324.2019.1601829
  43. Makri, M., Dalaklis, D., & Ávila-Zúñiga-Nordfjeld, A. (2022). Irregular migrants and refugee flows in the Aegean Sea: The contribution of the Hellenic Coast Guard in managing the external sea border of the European Union. Il Diritto Marittimo, (4), 862-886. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1743077/FULLTEXT01.pdf
  44. Manafi, I., & Roman, M. (2022). A Way to Europe: New Refugees’ Migration Patterns Revealed. Sustainability, 14(2), 748. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020748
  45. Mantanika, R., & Arapoglou, V. (2022). The making of reception as a system: The governance of migrant mobility and transformations of statecraft in Greece since the early 2000s. In M. Kousis, A. Chatzidaki, & K. Kafetsios (Eds.), Challenging Mobilities in and to the EU during Times of Crises (pp. 201-220). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11574-5_10
  46. Maris, G., & Flouros, F. (2022). Economic crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and the Greek model of capitalism. Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, (19), 469-484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40844-021-00228-y
  47. Marmani, F. (2023). Refugee camps in Greece: Conditions in reception facilities from a gender perspective. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113088
  48. Martins, B. O. (2023). Security knowledges: circulation, control, and responsible research and innovation in EU border management. Science as Culture, 32(3), 435-459. https://doi.org/10.1080/09505431.2023.2222739
  49. Megalokonomou, R., & Vasilakis, C. (2023). The effects of exposure to refugees on crime: Evidence from the Greek islands. European Economic Review, 160, Article 104605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104605
  50. Morehouse, C., & Blomfield, M. (2011). Irregular Migration in Europe. Washington D.C.: Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/TCMirregularmigration.pdf
  51. Morgan, H. (2023). Living digitally like a migrant: Everyday smartphone practices and the (Re)mediation of hostile state-affects. Progress in Human Geography, 47(3), 409-426. https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325231174311
  52. Nikas, C., & Aspasios, D. (2021). The Albanian migration to Greece and the refugee crisis of 2015 from the Greek perspective. Studia Europejskie – Studies in European Affairs, (3), 115-135. https://doi.org/10.33067/SE.3.2021.7
  53. Oleribe, O. O., & de la Fuente, R. A. (2022). Migration of highly-skilled workers: Personal perspectives. The Pan African Medical Journal, 41, Article 292. https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2022.41.292.34644
  54. Öztürk, T., & Erkan, S. (2023). The refugee crisis in the Aegean Sea: An analysis in the context of the regional security complex. Journal of Balkan Research Institute, 12(2), 529-559. https://doi.org/10.30903/Balkan.1411762
  55. Pavlidis, P., & Karakasi, M.-V. (2019). Greek land borders and migration fatalities – Humanitarian disaster described from the standpoint of Evros. Forensic Science International, 302, Article 109875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.109875
  56. Perkowski, N., Stierl, M., & Burridge, A. (2023). The evolution of EUropean border governance through crisis: Frontex and the interplay of protracted and acute crisis narratives. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 41(1), 110-129. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758231152478
  57. Pries, L., & Savci, B. S. Z. (2023). Syrian refugees arriving in Germany: Choice of corridor and individual characteristics of forced migrants. Frontiers in Sociology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1070065
  58. Purkayastha, D., Bircan, T., Yar, A.W.A., & Ceylan, D. (2023). Irregular migration is skilled migration: Reimagining skill in EU’s migration policies. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10, Article 417. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01885-7
  59. Rowe, F., & Patias, N. (2020). Mapping the spatial patterns of internal migration in Europe. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 7(1), 390-393. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2020.1811139
  60. Shakun, N. (2022). Anthropological dilemmas of information society development modern stage in the context of globalisation challenges. Futurity Philosophy, 1(3), 52-63. https://doi.org/10.57125/FP.2022.09.30.04
  61. Sigona, N., Kato, J., & Kuznetsova, I. (2021). Migration infrastructures and the production of migrants’ irregularity in Japan and the United Kingdom. Comparative Migration Studies, 9(1), Article 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-021-00242-4
  62. Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
  63. Spencer, S., & Triandafyllidou, A. (2022). Irregular migration. In P. Scholten (Ed.), Introduction to Migration Studies (pp. 191–204). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92377-8_12
  64. Stylianidis, S., & Souliotis, K. (2019). The impact of the long-lasting socioeconomic crisis in Greece. BJPsych International, 16(1), 16-18. https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2017.31
  65. Tedeschi, M. (2022). Negotiating survival needs through ontological in/visibility: An exploration of irregular migrants' lawscapes. GeoHumanities, 8(2), 482-498. https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566X.2022.2060848
  66. Triandafyllidou, A., & Bartolini, L. (2020). Understanding irregularity. In S. Spencer & A. Triandafyllidou (Eds.), Migrants with Irregular Status in Europe: Evolving Conceptual and Policy Challenges (pp. 11-31). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34324-8_2
  67. Tsourapas, G., & Zartaloudis, S. (2022). Leveraging the European Refugee Crisis: Forced displacement and bargaining in Greece’s bailout negotiations. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 60, 245-263. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13211
  68. Turnbull, D., Chugh, R., & Luck, J. (2023). Systematic-narrative hybrid literature review: A strategy for integrating a concise methodology into a manuscript. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 7(1), Article 100381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2022.100381
  69. Tzagkarakis, S. I., Papadakis, K., & Kritas, D. (2021). Immigration in the Eastern Mediterranean as a European Challenge: The Role of Greece and the necessity for a common European immigration and foreign policy. Annals of the Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, 28(2), 27-33. https://doi.org/10.17951/k.2021.28.2.27-33
  70. UNHCR. (2024). Mediterranean situation/Greece. https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean
  71. UNODC. (2011). The role of organized crime in the smuggling of migrants from West Africa to the European Union. New York: UNODC. https://acortar.link/qRq5RG
  72. Urbaneja Cillán, J. (2020). The European Union-Turkey Cooperation on Migration matters: Towards a Review of the Migratory Statement of 18 March 2016. International Peace and Security – Journal of International Law and International Relations, 8. http://portal.amelica.org/ameli/journal/474/4742150008/
  73. Vitiello, D. (2022). Comprehensive approaches in the Global Compact for Migration and the EU border policies: A critical appraisal. Laws, 11(5), Article 78. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws11050078