The drowning of hundreds of men, women and children off the coasts of Italy and Malta has brought world attention back to the dilemma faced by the developed world from desperation migration. While humanitarian aid and favorable receptions to illegal immigrants willing to risk their lives to reach their intended destination are admirable and consistent with international conventions, these also add to the "pull factor" - adding incentives for human smugglers and encouraging more men, women and children to undertake perilous journeys.
Although deaths attributable to desperation migration are incomplete, available data for certain regions provide a crude approximation of the minimum levels (see Figure 1). In the past two decades, for example, nearly 20,000 people are reported as having lost their lives in an effort to reach the European Union's southern borders from Africa and the Middle East. In 2011 at the height of the Arab Spring more than 1,500 died in efforts to reach the southern shores of the EU with close to 300,000 registered asylum claims.
Also, attempts to cross the United States-Mexico border resulted in close to 2,000 people dying during the period 1998-2004, with 477 deaths recorded and more than 83,000 registered asylum claims in the past year. In addition, the number of deaths or persons missing at sea trying to reach Australia since 2000 is recorded at 1,731, with 242 for the year 2012 and nearly 16,000 registered asylum claims.
When people face dire times, many try migrating to more prosperous, favorable or sparsely populated lands. Over the past two centuries, tens of millions of men, women and children migrated from Europe to North America, South America and Oceania. During the Irish Potato Famine, for example, more than a million emigrated from Ireland. Poverty, natural disasters, overpopulation and political unrest contributed to 2 million Italians migrating to the United States in the first decade of the 20th century. Travel then was difficult and costly, and processing was a formality.
Opportunities for large-scale migration have come to a close. Established borders, national laws and international agreements, nationalism, security concerns, technology as well as striking economic, social and demographic imbalances all contribute to limiting immigration levels to the needs and wellbeing of the receiving countries.
Few governments wish to increase current levels of immigration. Close to 75 percent of national governments have policies to maintain current immigration levels. Another 16 percent of governments have policies to lower immigration. Only 10 percent plan to increase immigration levels, and those policies are aimed primarily at attracting highly-skilled, technical workers.
Given limited opportunities for legal migration and increased border surveillance, growing numbers turn to professional smugglers. The risks of these hazardous journeys are both minimized and understood by would-be migrants, who compare them to bleak, often precarious living conditions at home. Many immigrants flee civil conflict, political violence and persecution. Others risk their lives to escape poverty and provide remittances to those left behind. Many who migrate for economic reasons and survive clandestine passage claim asylum upon arrival to avoid being sent back home, complicating matters for genuine refugees.
