Southampton Law School hosts interdisciplinary workshop on Irregularised Migration, Deaths and Missing Migrants

On Thursday 17th and Friday 18th June 2021, Southampton Law School hosted an interdisciplinary workshop on the subject of irregularised migration, deaths and missing migrants, looking into the effects on the economic and social development of African countries.

With the title ‘Saharan and Mediterranean Cross-Border Migration Deaths: The Impacts on Economic and Social Development of African Countries’, this workshop focused on irregular migration to Europe from African countries and the ensuing deaths and missing persons. Irregularised sub-Saharan migrants usually travel to Libya, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia before they embark on the dangerous journey to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea onboard dinghies and unseaworthy boats. The journeys across the Sahara Desert are also notoriously treacherous, involving significant risks, and resulting in many unreported deaths and missing migrants.

Dr Remigius N Nwabueze (Associate Professor of Law within Southampton Law School) is leading a research project which aims to identify and address conceptual and practical issues surrounding irregularised migration from African countries to Europe through life-threatening journeys across the Sahara and Mediterranean Sea. It focuses on the economic and social effects migrants’ deaths and those who go missing have on African countries of origin, and the devastating consequences for the families affected by the loss or ambiguous loss of their loved ones.

The workshop was the key event of the year-long project, which is funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Strategic Development Fund (SDF), and brought together colleagues from across the University of Southampton, and more widely, including leading academic figures from Greece, Ghana and Nigeria.

This two-day workshop provided an opportunity to establish a common research agenda based on relevant local priorities, grounded on empirical and interdisciplinary work, with the purpose of contributing to proposals and solutions at the countries of origin.

Read the full news release on the Southampton Law School website .