Managing Migration

On 18 April 2015, the Mediterranean's deadliest shipwreck in living memory occurred in the Sicilian Channel, 96 km off the Libyan coast and 193 km south of the Italian island of Lampedusa in international waters. There were only 28 survivors, and between 700 and 1100 people died. The fishing boat, which would normally have a crew of fifteen men, was carrying an average of five persons per square meter, migrants locked up as the ship's ballast in the hold and machine room. After colliding with a Portuguese freighter attempting to come to its rescue, the boat sank with its imprisoned human cargo.

This year the ship, known as Barca Nostra, is being exhibited at the Venice Biennale, a contemporary visual art exhibition. It is a stark reminder of the grim challenges faced by irregular migrants seeking safety or opportunity in Europe. According to the Missing Migrants Project run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a further 432 known deaths have been recorded in the Mediterranean in 2019. One wonders how many more went unrecorded or died en route in places such as the Libyan desert.

By 2050 the African continent will have produced 1.3 billion more people than today. Many more from other parts of the Middle East or South Asia will transit Africa seeking routes to Europe, escaping conflict, the effects of climate change or opportunities to better their lives.  These push factors will be augmented by the pull factor of a Europe with a work force that will have ninety million less workers than today, a result of demographic changes well underway.

This haunting ship wreck is much more than a provocative installation at an art fair.  Like the migrant caravans or the proposed wall on the US-Mexican border it challenges us to confront fundamental issues relating to demography and the migration of peoples, the urgency of which is only increasing.