Between 2015 and 2016, the European Union implemented a emergency relocation program, which foresees the transfer of individuals in need of international protection among the member states, Switzerland, and Norway. A large number of migrants who arrived in Italy in 2018 were relocated to Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Nevertheless, crossing borders irregularly within Europe has experienced an increase in the last years. Migrants are forced to choose life-threatening routes and methods to cross European borders. Such methods include train surfing, river crossing, or hiking through mountains without appropriate equipment. Between 2016 and 2018, several deaths of immigrants were recorded at the Italian-French border in the attempt to migrate within Europe.
The sea route undertaken by immigrants that leads to Italy is the Central Mediterranean route.This route includes the crossing from North Africa to Italy as well as to Malta. The main departing country is Libya, while Tunisia, Egypt, and East Algeria represent minor departing shores. In 2020, 724 migrants died while crossing the Central Mediterranean route. 2016 was the year in which the number of deaths on this route peaked, when 4.6 thousand migrants died in the attempt to reach European shores. Among the different routes in the Mediterranean Sea, the Central route registered the highest number of fatalities overall. Another sea route is the Eastern Mediterranean route, which covers migration flows from Turkey to Greece and Cyprus. More information is available about the Eastern route compared to the Western and Central routes because in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea bodies are more often brought to land than in the Western and Central Sea. Eventualy, a third major route is that from Morocco and the Western coast of Algeria to Spain, known as the Western Mediterranean route.
