Migrant and Refugee Border Deaths: Defining A Human Rights Framework
| Author | Stefanie Grant |
| Position | Visiting Senior Fellow |
| Pages | 129-133 |
2018
LSE LAW REVIEW
129
Migrant and Refugee Border Deaths: Defining A Human
Rights Framework
Stefanie Grant*
Dear Editor,
Each year, thousands of migrants and refugees lose their lives or are missing at
international borders:
1
those crossing the Mediterranean, those lost in the Sahara,
those dying from thirst in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts between Mexico
and the US, or the Rohingya in flight from Myanmar.
2
They are casualties of
dangerous journeys, extreme weather, unseaworthy boats, and unscrupulous
smugglers. They are also an ‘unintended consequence’
3
of migration policies to
control borders, and criminalise irregular movement. The names of most of the
missing and dead are not known, their families are not traced, and where bodies
are found, many are buried in unmarked graves. Relatives, often in other countries
and continents, do not know if a missing family member – a parent, spouse,
brother, sister or child – is alive or dead. T hese deaths are an exception to the
general humanitarian rule that the dead ought to be recorded, identified, and
buried with respect, and that their families are entitled to know the fate of the
* Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE Human Rights, The London School of Economics and
Political Science.
1
Estimates suggest that at le ast 46,000 migrants a nd refugees died since 2000, wi th actual
figures certainly much higher. Many more are missing. See International Organization for
Migration, ‘Latest Global Figures’ <https://missingmigrants.iom.int/latest-global-
figures> accessed 9 February 2 018.
2
International Organizati on for Migration, Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost during Migration
(Vol 1, IOM 2014); International Organization for Migration, Fatal Journeys: Identification
and Tracki ng of Dead and Missing Migrants (Vol 2, IOM 2016 ); Inte rnational Organi zation
for Migration, Fatal Journeys: Improving Data on Missing Migrants (Vol 3, IOM 2017).
3
International C ommittee of the Red Cross , Missing Migrants and their Families: The ICRC’s
Recommendations to Policy Makers (ICRC 2017).
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