Disfrontalp: Alpine borders and migration issues

Since the Alpine countries reintroduced systematic border controls in 2015, Alpine borders have been militarized, forcing exiles to pass through increasingly dangerous routes, increasing the lethality of crossings.

The aim of the Disfrontalp project– Alpine borders and migration issues, a survey of exiled, missing and deceased people– is to set up an Alpine research network responsible for creating, publishing and disseminating a database of migrant people who, from Italy or countries on the “Balkan route”, have died trying to cross the Alps to find refuge in Western Europe. The data collected show that, since 1993, 149 people have died attempting to cross an Alpine border, 84% of them since 2015, when the borders were militarized and controls increased.

DisFrontAlp brings together a team of researchers, working with university partners and associations and activists, to produce geo-political analyses based on the data collected, to make them visible through maps and infographics, and to reflect on ways of commemorating the dead on Alpine borders.

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