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The MTM Map on Irregular and Mixed Migration Flows is an output of the intergovernmental information exchange project Interactive Map on Irregular Migration Routes and Flows in Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean Region (i-Map), implemented in the framework of the Dialogue on Mediterranean Transit Migration (MTM), gathering officials from Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, 27 EU Member States, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Norway, Senegal, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey.
Irregular migration movements towards the Mediterranean region and Europe originate in various regions of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The specific geographic focus of the MTM i-Map project and of this map lies on irregular and mixed migration movements from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East towards the Mediterranean region and Europe.
The map is a model, visualising key irregular migration routes. Routes are characterised by key migration hubs and known points of irregular border crossing, including land, sea, and airport borders.
Five major routes can be distinguished:
• The West Africa route, originating in West Africa, passing Mauritania, Morocco or Senegal, aiming for the Canary Islands
• The West Mediterranean route, originating in West Africa, heading northwards to the Maghreb and subsequently mainland Spain
• The Central Mediterranean route, originating in West Africa, transiting through Mali and/or Niger towards Libya, and crossing the Mediterranean Sea towards Italy or Malta
• The East Africa route, originating in the Horn of Africa, with two main branches. The first branch crosses the Gulf of Aden to Yemen and heads north-eastwards towards the Gulf or Middle East. The second branch heads northwards through the Sudan and leading to (i) an eastward extension to Egypt and east towards Israel, alternatively to Jordan, connecting to the East Mediterranean route, and (ii) a westward extension towards Libya, connecting with the Central Mediterranean route
• The East Mediterranean route, transiting the Middle East, heads towards the Mediterranean region (i) through Syria or Lebanon towards Cyprus; or (ii) through Turkey either to Cyprus, Greece, or Bulgaria
Irregular migration routes are not independent of each other.
Developments influencing single routes, such as regional law enforcement cooperation, influence the relative attractiveness of other routes and thus lead to shifting of flows.
The migration routes and flows are of concern to all countries in the covered region. The geographic extension of each single route does not imply that persons making use of the route travel its full length. Origin countries may differ, destination countries may lie along the route, and persons may remain in transit countries for extensive periods of time, inter alia due to a lack of possibilities for irregular border crossings preventing further movement. Thus, the “status” of countries evolves with the flows and varies from countries of origin, transit or destination, or any combination of the three.
Movements along the routes may occur by land, sea, or air travel, or a combination thereof. Both public transport and private means of transport are utilised. Particularly with regards to irregular border crossings, irregular migrants make use of facilitating services of individuals or organised crime groups.
The flows are characterised by a mixed composition including, inter alia, refugees, persons in need of other forms of protection, economic migrants, and victims of trafficking. Management of mixed migration requires specific measures addressing each category, thus increasing the challenges to migration management systems and increasing their complexity.
Project: Interactive Map on Irregular Migration Routes and Flows in Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean Region (i-Map) Duration: 2009-2010
Funded by: European Commission, co-funded by Cyprus, France, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland
Implemented by: ICMPD, Europol, Frontex, Interpol, UNHCR, UNODC, and the Odysseus Academic Network
Thematic focus: Irregular and mixed migration (main focus of current project) Migration and development (under development)
NOR SWE
2. A second option is the western Mediterranean overland route to North Africa. Like all migrant routes, it can be considered to begin in any of the cities in West or Central Africa that are home to people nursing dreams, ambitions or fantasies of migration. The main overland branches of the western Mediterranean route run from Senegal through Mauritania to Morocco, or via Gao in Mali north to Algeria and Morocco. Many irregular migrants from West Africa who arrive in Morocco by one of the variants of this route stay there for years without ever attempting a crossing to Spain, but many also make one or more attempts to reach Europe. In the past, one possibility was to make an irregular entry into Spain by crossing into the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the North African coast, either by land, by a short boat journey or even by swimming a short distance along the coast. The peak year for entering the two cities was 2005, when hundreds of irregular migrants tried to scale the fences surrounding them en masse. Many of the irregular migrants entering Ceuta and Melilla in the 2000s were North African, but there were also hundreds of South Asians who entered after travelling by air from Asia to West Africa and crossing the Sahara. The number of irregular migrants recorded as arriving in the two Spanish cities decreased by 39.5 per cent between 2006 and 2008, from 2,000 to 1,210, with a further decline to just 1,108 in 2009.102 These days, the majority of irregular migrants entering Ceuta and Melilla are North African, with the number of Asians using the route falling towards zero and many West Africans also abandoning this route. The main reason is no doubt the Spanish policy of keeping irregular migrants in Ceuta and Melilla and not transfer-ring them to mainland Spain, making the two cities a dead end for those wishing to reach the European continent.
101 International Centre for Migration Policy Development, European Police Office and European Agency for the Management of Opera-tional Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex), Arab and European Partner States Working Document on the Joint Management of Mixed Migration Flows (Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2007), p. 20. Available from www.icmpd.org/fileadmin/ICMPD-Website/MTM/FINAL_Working-Doc_Full_EN.pdf.
102 Spain, “El balance de la lucha contra la inmigración ilegal 2009” (see footnote 27).
chApteR fouR: oVeRVIew of mAIn lAnd, seA And AIR Routes: geogRAphy And oRgAnIzAtIon 25
3. The third and easternmost of the overland routes commonly used by migrants from West and Central Africa—at least until very recently—is a central Mediterranean route, accessed via Agadez in the Niger and Gao in Mali.
These two towns are vital staging posts for access to the Maghreb at a number of points, especially via Taman-rasset to the Strait of Gibraltar (for further progress towards Spain) or via Sebha to the Libyan coast (for those intending to reach Italy). However, there are now also reports of people leaving north-eastern Nigeria for Chad with a view to reaching Egypt and travelling from there to Greece. Moreover, there are substantial numbers of West Africans who, having reached North Africa by one or other route across the desert, move from one country to another in North Africa in search of work or on the lookout for an opportunity to find a boat to Europe.
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