In August 2013, a group of fifteen European journalists, statisticians and software developers launched The Migrants Files project with the aim of acquiring reliable and comprehensive data on the deaths of migrants attempting to enter Europe.
This time, the Migrants Files team is following the money -at least some of the funds flowing through public and private hands as Europe struggles to contain the influx of migrants at its borders. They examine some of the costs that 'Fortress Europe' imposes on taxpayers and reveal the economic beneficiaries of Europe’s closed-door immigration policy.
R&D projects
European borders are under constant surveillance, even using military technology developed by private companies that have received EU subsidies. A team of journalists, statisticians and developers from over 15 European countries analysed 39 research and development projects financed by the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA) between 2002 and 2013. Some of the largest European arms manufacturers were among the biggest profiteers: Airbus Group, Finmeccanica and Thales Group.
All data on research projects is available here.
Hardware
While the EU's border security agency, Frontex, has already spent close to a billion euros, Mediterranean countries have spent at least an additional 70 million euros on boats, night-vision equipment, drones, off-road vehicles, and other hardware for border surveillance. The walls surrounding the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla cost almost 10 million euros per year to maintain, while the wall closing off the passage to Greece cost Greek taxpayers over seven million euros. Since 2011, Italian taxpayers have paid over €17 million to Libyan authorities for boats, training and night-vision goggles for the explicit purpose of tracking refugees and migrants.
All data on amounts spent is available here.
Deportations
The largest cost associated with the 'Fortress Europe' politics had never been assessed. Since 2000, all 28 EU member states, as well as Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, have deported or returned more than 3.2 million people, at a cost of at least €12.6 billion. Research by The Migrants Files concludes that European countries spent an average of €4,000 to deport one person, with transport accounting for half of these costs. Overall, the cost of deportations in Europe is approaching one billion euros per year.
All data on deportations is available here.
Migrants pay facilitators
Despite the use of high-tech sensors, the militarisation of the Greek, Italian, Bulgarian and Spanish borders, and thousands of deportations every year, refugees continue to attempt to reach Europe. According to the UNHCR (the United Nations refugee agency), 600,000 people sought asylum in Europe in 2014. The Migrants’ Files investigation reveals that, from 2000 to 2014, undocumented refugees and migrants paid at least 17 billion euros to facilitators who helped them reach Europe.
All data relating to money paid by refugees and migrants can be found here.
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Read about the first Migrants' Files investigation here.
The Migrants Files: Coordination by Journalism++Research and code by Elaine Allaby, Michael Bauer (Der Standard), Ana Isabel Carvalho (Journalism++ Porto), Aleksander Derylo (Gazeta), Jakob Espersen, Marcin Gebala (Gazeta), Daniele Grasso (El Confidencial), Peter Grensund (Journalism++ Stockholm), Sylke Gruhnwald (SRF), Timo Grossenbacher (SRF), Markus Hametner (Der Standard), Kristian Holgersen, Alice Kohli, Ricardo Lafuente (Journalism++ Porto), Alexandre Léchenet (Libération), Vadim Makarenko (Gazeta), Jean-Marc Manach, Andrea Nelson Mauro (Dataninja), Jacopo Ottaviani, Lise Møller Schilder, Julian Schmidli (SRF), Katerina Stavroula (Radiobubble), Marta Urzedowska (Gazeta).
