Publication

This paper addresses EU awareness campaigns that are designed to discourage potential migrants from attempting to enter Europe illegally and argues that they seldom work as they are based on incorrect assumptions. More specifically, the authors contend that those designing the campaigns are wrong to assume 1) that aspiring migrants are ignorant of the risks involved; and 2) that the root causes of exploitative migration rest with human smugglers and traffickers. They also provide recommendations on how the EU can improve its campaigns, including the suggestion that they should include information on safe and legal migration options.