Catherine Wihtol de Wenden

With tensions over the issue of migration running higher than ever, Catherine Wihtol de Wenden believes the solution does not lie in a security-oriented approach. Making it easier for people to move around would make development fairer for all.

Over 1,100 people died off the coast of Lampedusa during the night of 19-20 April 2015, which brings the number of migrant deaths to 1,800 since the beginning of the year. This tragic record adds to the recurrent disasters related to current events in the Euro-Mediterranean region: 220,000 people risked their lives by crossing the Mediterranean in 2014 and in 6 months, in 2015, 54,000 migrants have reached Italy, 48,000 Greece, 920 Spain and 91 Malta. One point has to be made over this persistent human tragedy: the European Union is not radically changing its approach to the issue of migration and stubbornly sticks to repression, whereas there are other alternatives.