Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MAPS (MAPS – Migrants And People Smugglers: A Comparative Study of Smuggling Networks in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Central American corridors)
Berichtszeitraum: 2019-09-01 bis 2020-08-31
The fellow collected the following interviews
Migrants: 13 (Tijuana/San Diego); 14 (Tenosique); 13 (Mexico City); 10 (Guadalajara); 15 (Italy and Greece); Total = 65
Smugglers 9 (Tijuana/San Diego); 3 (Tenosique); 8 (Mexico City); 1 (Guadalajara); 7 (taly and Greece); Total = 28
Authorities 5 (Tijuana/San Diego); 1 (Tenosique); 6 (Mexico City); 2 (Guadalajara); 1 (Italy and Greece); Total = 15
Smuggling market actors 5 (Tijuana/San Diego); 4 (Tenosique); 5 (Mexico City); 1 (Guadalajara); 9 (Italy and Greece); Total = 24
Shelter/humanitarian actors 15 (Tijuana/San Diego); 3 (Tenosique); 7 (Mexico City); 3 (Guadalajara); 3 (Italy and Greece); Total = 26
Total 47 (Tijuana/San Diego); 25 (Tenosique); 34 (Mexico City); 27 (Guadalajara); 25 (Italy and Greece); Total = 158
In this respect, work has been conducted in excess of the planned objectives (which originally were a total of 140 semi-structured interviews). Field research in Mexico allowed me to 1) identify a specific cluster of migrants with whom I could develop a specific case-study (i.e. Honduran migrants); 2) identify and develop interactive relationships with specific smugglers living in the immediacy of the sheltersSecond, participant observation was conducted in occasion of the “migrant caravan” that on December 2018 left Honduras to reach Tijuana (Mexico). During this time, Dr. Achilli has travelled with the caravan from Mexico City to the US-Mexico border, living with migrants and trying to shadow their experience for three weeks in November 2018. Finally, documentary data were collected, such as documents, statistics and booklets on the issue of irregular migration and human smuggling produced by a variety of actors. Altogether, the fieldwork activities run for about 18 months. The data collection was completed in October 2019. After the conclusion of the outgoing phase (September 2019), the project has entered its last phase (which terminated on 2 May 2021). Again, the fellow produced a series of scientific publications in excess of the DoA, which includes: four peer-review articles, one article for a volume, four working papers/reports, three special issues (as editor and contributor), and two policy briefs. However, there have been a few minor deviations. Out of the four blog posts, only one was published. The fellow opted for a series of 7 newspaper articles, a TV presentation (for the programme “Scope”, hosted by Indus News Lahore, 2020), and a photo exhibition that tackled the topics of the originally scheduled blog posts. This dissemination activity was complemented by the launch of a photo exhibition at the EUI and its website, academic social media webpages and Twitter account. Furthermore, as per DoA, a book manuscript has been submitted to the publisher with the title “Global Migrant Smuggling” (John Hopkins University Press). Two other peer-review articles are forthcoming.
In so doing, MAPS has further specified the current state of the art by pushing the boundaries of research relating to smuggling in three main ways:
a) Inter/multi-disciplinary methods: the project uses the methods and analytical tools of social anthropology and critical criminology with a view to achieving an in-depth understanding of human smuggling.
b) Comparative approach: in producing new and comparable empirical data, the project has currently extrapolated conclusion beyond these two-specific case-studies. Comparisons made across cases has assisted robust theory building that has been tested against diverse empirical settings.
c) Comprehensiveness: MAPS addressed policy and research gaps by examining the perspectives of irregular migrants, smugglers, and key actors (authorities, locals, etc.) simultaneously, comparatively and over time.