Political and environmental risks influence migration and human smuggling across the Mediterranean Sea

Since 2007 the number of refugees fleeing conflict and violence has doubled to more than 25 million. We leverage high frequency data on migration, sea conditions, and riots to investigate how political and environmental risks influence migration and human smuggling across the Mediterranean Sea. We r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPloS one Vol. 15; no. 7; p. e0236646
Main Authors Camarena, Kara Ross, Claudy, Sarah, Wang, Jijun, Wright, Austin L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published San Francisco Public Library of Science 31.07.2020
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects
Aggression
Biology and Life Sciences
Boats
Domestic policy
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Emigration and immigration
Enforcement
Engineering and Technology
Environmental risk
Forecasts and trends
Government programs
High frequencies
Human smuggling
Interpretation and construction
Migration
Militia groups
People and Places
Physical Sciences
Politics
Prices
Public policy
Qualitative research
Refugees
Research and Analysis Methods
Riots
Smuggling
Travel
Violence
Mediterranean region
United States > US
Europe
Illinois
Italy
North Africa
Chicago Illinois
Libya
Mediterranean Sea
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Summary:Since 2007 the number of refugees fleeing conflict and violence has doubled to more than 25 million. We leverage high frequency data on migration, sea conditions, and riots to investigate how political and environmental risks influence migration and human smuggling across the Mediterranean Sea. We report results from two observational studies. A high frequency time-series study demonstrates that risks alter migration patterns. An event study design demonstrates the effectiveness of a policy intervention that targeted Libyan militias engaged in human smuggling. The results highlight the important role of environmental and political risks in transit countries and their implications for migration and human smuggling.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
These authors also contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0236646