Legislation and Responses to Missing and Deceased Sea Migrants in Italy

Bianchini’s current research looks at the applicable laws, policies and practices concerning the search for, identification, and burial of missing sea migrants’ bodies in Italy.

Between 2014 and July 2024, an estimated 30,000 deaths and disappearances of migrants have been recorded in the Mediterranean. More than 17,000 of these took place along the Central Mediterranean Route, which links North African countries to the Italy’s southern coasts.  The Central Mediterranean Route is considered the most dangerous immigration route in the world due to the length of the sea crossing, risky smuggling strategies, and inadequate search and rescue activities.

The problem of missing and dead migrants in the Mediterranean has been pointed out by several international organizations, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UNHCR, and the International Red Cross. Particularly troubling is the fact that most of the missing migrants’ identities remain unknown. As a consequence, they are often laid to rest in unmarked graves. Although Italy has put a number of measures in place to address this situation, some scholars argue that more needs to be done. However, the regulation of these issues remains poorly known and, to date, little legal research has been done.

Against this backdrop, Bianchini’s research aims to fill this gap and provide a better understanding of the legislation, policies, and practices used by the actors involved in their attempts to find practical solutions. Further, it provides recommendations on how to best improve the response to missing migrants and the treatment of unidentified bodies. The research does not claim to be exhaustive or comprehensive; the goal, rather, is to clarify the current legal provisions and identify the most urgent issues and possible ways to address them. To this end, the research is based on legal analysis as well as empirical data collected through interviews with relevant actors. While the principal focus of the study is Italy, it highlights complexities that are shared by all the southern Mediterranean states faced with the issue of dead and disappeared sea migrants.