Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants attempt to travel from Africa to Europe, seeking economic opportunities or escaping violence and conflict. Many pass through dangerous routes across the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea, where the risks can be fatal.
The exact number of victims is unknown because many incidents remain undocumented. However, migration experts note that these routes are among the most dangerous in the world, subjecting migrants to harsh conditions, violence, and exploitation.
Trans-Saharan routes include three main corridors. The West Atlantic corridor runs from West Africa through Mauritania into Western Sahara and southern Morocco. Another route follows the Mali-Algeria-Morocco axis, and a third goes from Niger through Algeria and connects to Libya.
Bram Frows, Director of the Migration Centre in The Hague, reported that people face a wide range of problems: from extortion at checkpoints and arbitrary detention to kidnapping, physical and sexual violence, forced labor, and the risk of arrest, sometimes followed by being thrown into the desert further south if intercepted by authorities.
The International Organization for Migration's 'Missing Migrants' project has recorded over 2000 deaths in the Sahara since 2014. Experts believe that the real number of victims is likely much higher, as many cases are never registered or documented.
Even those who survive crossing the desert face increased danger when attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. Some migrants turn to smugglers, while others try to organize the crossing independently due to the unaffordability of intermediary services.
Myriam Auraeg, Professor of Digital Anthropology in Morocco, notes that not all migration trajectories involve smuggling; it only happens at the final stage when people want to reach Europe, and only those who can afford it. She emphasizes that most people cannot do this, making the situation extremely dangerous for them, so they organize their own small boats.
Other migrants attempt to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta by crossing the heavily fortified border with Morocco. Earlier this month, border control was overwhelmed when tens of thousands of migrants attempted to cross the border, forcing Spain to deploy additional police and military forces.
European efforts to restrict migration have also changed the economics of this journey. Frows stated that increased measures to curb migration increase the demand for smugglers and raise their prices. He added that thanks to these measures, smugglers' profits are growing, the demand for their services is increasing, and the cost of smuggling services is rising, making them 'big winners.'
Migration experts believe that expanding legal pathways and regulated labor migration could offer safer alternatives for people seeking opportunities in Europe, thereby reducing their dependence on dangerous routes and criminal smuggling networks.