Managing Mixed Migration: The Central Mediterranean Route to Europe

Every summer since 2014 has seen an increase in the number of refugees and migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy and Malta. This increase in migration is having a wide-ranging impact on countries of origin, transit, and destination, creating new and complex challenges for governments, humanitarian agencies, the European Union, and the international community at large.

This paper focuses on mixed migration along the Central Mediterranean route, which reemerged as the world’s deadliest maritime migration route in 2015 and again in 2016. It investigates the underlying causes for this mixed migration, arguing that push factors have become more relevant than pull factors in driving mixed movements. It also maps the route and examines European responses to mixed migration across the Mediterranean.

The paper offers a number of lessons learned that should inform policy discourse on how the EU and the international community can better respond to the challenges of mixed migration along the Central Mediterranean route: