When comparing the migration journeys of people from the Mediterranean and people from Central America it is important to first acknowledge that both journeys are not easy and are, for most people, quite time consuming and dangerous. In the Mediterranean, migrants may have to cross the Mediterranean Sea which accounts for over 90,000 of the over 111,000 migrants that have made the journey in the past year. Of the 111,000 migrants that have made the journey from the Mediterranean, over 1,148 have died trying to make the journey. These people are choosing to leave mostly due to ongoing conflicts in their home countries such as the civil war in Syria, which has been going on for years and accounts for 17.1% of the migrants in the Mediterranean, the conflict in Iraq, which has accounted for over 260,000 refugees and Afghanistan, which accounts for 20.8% of the Mediterranean migrants.
The journey of central American migrants is a little different, but also dangerous. Central American migrants travel mostly on foot across land borders. In 2018 alone, there were 353,000 refugees and asylum seekers from north central America alone. Similar to Mediterranean migrants, they are also escaping wars, as well as gang violence and drug cartels. In addition, these migrants are also leaving their countries because of growing inequalities and institutions that are failing in their home country’s government.
What is interesting about both cases is the impact that these migrants have on the people of the counties to which they are going. In 2016, as the referendum on Brexit was taking place, 56% of people polled in Britain named immigration and asylum as the top issue for them when deciding how to vote. There was a sense of fear and uncertainty over how the government would accept the increasing influx of migrants from the Mediterranean into Britain. This lead conservatives in the country to play into that fear and convince the public that they must limit the number of migrants they accept because they might be dangerous. This is eerily similar to the 2016 US presidential election in which then-candidate Donald Trump played to the fears of many Americans. He referred to migrants from central America and Mexico as rapists and murders and suggested building a wall along the southern border to keep them out. What will be interesting to see going forward is how the views of people in Europe, Britain in particular, and the US will change in their opinions of migrants seeking refuge or asylum in their country.
mappingmigrants.wordpress.com 