Summary

Using seaways for travelling is not a new phenomenon. In recent years, the main focus of attention has been on the boat refugees crossing the Mediterranean – both due to the remarkably high numbers of the refugees who have reached Europe and those who have drowned while attempting to cross the Mediterranean. According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than one million boat refugees arrived in Europe across the Mediterranean in 2015 alone, while almost 4000 boat refugees drowned. Due to the fact that fleeing in boats is the most dangerous form of travelling, the European Commission has stressed that the priority is to solve this specific problem.

This article analyses the specific measures that international law allows to be taken by the European countries to significantly reduce the number of boat refugees on the Mediterranean. It does not address all the measures that would reduce the numbers directly or indirectly. The author finds that taking into consideration the geographical location of Europe, it would be unrealistic to assume that Europe could now or in the future be able to eliminate the root causes of the migration. That is why we instead need to analyse the measures that European countries could take in a situation in which migration to Europe is a fact that needs to be accepted. Therefore, the article is based on the assumption that the refugees have left their home countries for any number of reasons and wish to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean in boats. The article does not state whether crossing the sea should be prevented or not – the objective is to study the extent to which doing so could be possible.