Europe’s sea lanes were crowded last weekend. On Sunday, more than 700 migrants crossed the English Channel from France to England, bringing this year’s total to 18,342 – 13 per cent more than in 2023. On the same day, 421 migrants on twelve boats landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa, and since then more migrants have arrived, totalling more than 500, The Spectator reports.
The diversity of nationalities of the migrants who have arrived on Lampedusa is a surprising and disturbing snapshot of the crisis facing Europe. The people who have disembarked have come from Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ghana, Gambia, Ghana, Malaysia, Nigeria, Liberia and Syria. There are now too many gangs operating in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Some migrants are travelling on their boats from Libya, others from Tunisia. The latter route is cheaper, with migrants paying smugglers between £500 and £1,500 (the cheapest route is from Sfax, which is 116 miles west of Lampedusa). The cost per seat in a boat sailing from more distant Libya ranged from £3,000 to £7,000.
The cost of crossing the Mediterranean to Europe highlights what American scholar Stephen Smith explained in his 2018 book The Scramble for Europe: migration is being made by Africa’s young middle class, not by the poorest and most oppressed.
The internet and social media allow this demographic to see what they see as great potential for personal growth in Europe; according to Smith, these young middle class people resent the “elder rule” in Africa that limits this growth. In his book, Smith predicts that migration from Africa has only just begun and will increase significantly in the coming decades.
Asian migrants rush to Europe
Africans are not the only ones who see Europe as the promised land. Increasingly, it is becoming a destination for South Asians, particularly Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.
Almost 40,000 migrants have arrived in Italy this year, 7,615 of them from Bangladesh, the highest number of any country. Italian authorities fear the figure will rise in the coming months, given the recent political turmoil in Bangladesh. Student protests that began in July turned into a large-scale uprising against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hundreds of people were killed and the prime minister fled, leaving behind an unstable country under an interim government that has promised to hold parliamentary elections soon, according to The Spectator.
The unrest in Bangladesh is similar to that in a huge number of countries in the developing world in recent years, with seven coups d’état in Africa since 2020 and conflicts ravaging Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In each case, one of the consequences is increased migration to Europe.
The European Union is struggling to contain this huge outflow of population. Over the past 18 months, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has signed agreements with Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania and Lebanon in the hope that their governments can control the flow.
Forthcoming leaders’ talks
The number of migrants crossing Europe is down on 2023 – 94,009 arrived in Italy in the first seven months of last year – so the EU strategy is paying off. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of migrants continue to arrive, paying substantial sums of money to the well-organised criminal gangs that control the routes. The political vacuum in France and the election of a Labour government in the UK will push these gangs to expand their illegal business, The Spectator reports.
This week it was revealed that Keir Starmer held talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni on the issue of illegal immigration. The British Prime Minister believes that tackling criminal gangs is the most effective way to stop the boats.
That’s unlikely to work. There are too many gangs operating in Asia, the Middle East and Africa right now. Destroy one and another will take its place, attracted by relatively easy wealth.
According to a report by the Global Initiative to Combat Transnational Organised Crime, a single human smuggling gang can earn up to one million dollars (£780,000) a month. It may not be as lucrative as the drug trade, but unlike that trade, it is not the smugglers who bear the risk, but the people being smuggled. It is they who are at risk when they climb into a flimsy boat and take to the high seas.
But it is the huge masses of people who are willing to take this risk. Europe is their dream, and they will not be deterred by the danger or the deals the EU has made.
