eprintid: 10199900 rev_number: 8 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/19/99/00 datestamp: 2024-11-11 16:00:57 lastmod: 2024-11-11 16:01:35 status_changed: 2024-11-11 16:00:57 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Bish, Alexandre creators_name: Borrion, Hervé creators_name: Toubaline, Sonia creators_name: Cockbain, Ella title: Anatomy of a route: Script analysis of irregular migration, smuggling and harms on the Central Mediterranean route to Europe ispublished: inpress divisions: UCL divisions: B04 divisions: F52 keywords: Crime script, exploitation, extortion, forced labour, human trafficking, Libya, migrant smuggling note: © The Author(s), 2024. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract: Since the so-called ‘migrant crisis’ in 2015, there has been intense policy interest around irregular migration along the Central Mediterranean Route to Europe. Despite increased research focus on this route, the details and geographical intricacies of these migration journeys have scarcely been examined. In this study, we investigate the what, where and how of the journeys of 71 people who travelled from Libya across the Mediterranean Sea to Malta. To do so, we break down their journeys into scripts (i.e. sequences of activities) and represent them as a composite script graph. We find that journeys were long – 18 months on average – and circuitous, involving diverse and complex geographical paths. Smuggling, brokerage and working during transit were key aspects of most journeys. Worryingly, two-thirds of participants experienced detention and/or forced labour before reaching Malta. By pinpointing where and how harm occurs, the composite script graph can support policy makers in reducing harm, including by accounting for the possible harm that interventions may cause, directly or as a result of displacement. date: 2024-10-31 date_type: published publisher: SAGE Publications official_url: https://doi.org/10.1177/174889582412926 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2334452 doi: 10.1177/174889582412926 lyricists_name: Cockbain, Eleanor lyricists_name: Bish, Alexandre lyricists_id: EPCOC60 lyricists_id: AGBIS74 actors_name: Cockbain, Eleanor actors_id: EPCOC60 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Criminology & Criminal Justice issn: 1748-8958 citation: Bish, Alexandre; Borrion, Hervé; Toubaline, Sonia; Cockbain, Ella; (2024) Anatomy of a route: Script analysis of irregular migration, smuggling and harms on the Central Mediterranean route to Europe. Criminology & Criminal Justice 10.1177/174889582412926 <https://doi.org/10.1177/174889582412926>. (In press). Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10199900/1/bish-et-al-2024-anatomy-of-a-route-script-analysis-of-irregular-migration-smuggling-and-harms-on-the-central.pdf