ABSTRACT
In the last ten years, contrary to the general perception, international migration flows in Europe have been quite stable (around 5 million each year according to the European Commission 2017). What has dramatically changed is, however, the migrants’ composition, with a sharp increase in migrants pushed by conflict and political instability. Even if the majority of refugees are hosted in neighbouring countries (Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, cf. www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html), given its geographical proximity, Europe, between 2013 and 2016, received about 3 million asylum seekers (40% of the world total). This increase is shaping most of the current discussion on migration movements in the Mediterranean (UN, 2017).
