Disfrontalp: Alpine Borders and Migration Issues

Since the Alpine countries reintroduced systematic border controls in 2015, the Alpine borders have been militarized, forcing refugees to take increasingly dangerous routes, thereby increasing the death toll among those attempting to cross.

Through the Disfrontalp project—Alpine Borders and Migration Issues: An Investigation into Exiled, Missing, and Deceased Persons— the goal is to establish an Alpine research network tasked with creating, publishing, and disseminating a database of migrants who, having departed from Italy or countries along the “Balkan route,” died while attempting to cross the Alps to seek refuge in Western Europe. This is notably the case of Blessing Matthew, a young Nigerian woman who died in the cross-border region of Briançon, whose lifeless body was found in the Durance River on May 9, 2018. Her story and the circumstances of her death were the subject of a counter-investigation by the Border Forensics association in collaboration with the Toutes et Tous Migrants association.

The data collected shows that, since 1993, 149 people have died while attempting to cross an Alpine border, 84% of them since 2015—that is, since those same borders were militarized and border controls were stepped up.

DisFrontAlp brings together a team of researchers, in collaboration with partners from academia, civil society, and activist groups, whose goal is to produce geopolitical analyses based on collected data, visualize them through maps and infographics, and explore ways to commemorate those who have died at the Alpine borders.

Researchers involved in the DisFrontAlp project: Sarah Bachellerie (Ph.D. student, Pacte), Mathilde Ravetto (intern, Pacte).