10 years after the so-called long summer of migration, the deadliness of the European border regime is back in full swing. Over the past decade, national and EU authorities have worked to make migration routes into Europe more hostile and dangerous to people on the move. This, however, hasn’t stopped or even slowed down the flow of people trying to reach the continent.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), at least 2200 people died in the Mediterranean while attempting to cross to Europe in 2024 alone, on top of 743 people so far in 2025. This is partly because European governments have phased out their state-run search and rescue (SAR) operations and criminalised the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have intervened in their stead. In response, some European governments are now choosing to defund volunteer SAR NGOs altogether. {read}