The Mediterranean migration crisis: border control versus humanitarian approaches

The European Union seems entrapped between two different approaches to address the migration crisis in the Mediterranean. On the one hand, closing the borders puts state security at the center of EU institutions, the European Council in particular is inclined to protect the borders. On the other, search and rescue interventions as a prominent aspect of the humanitarian paradigm, are conducted in the Mediterranean by several actors, the Italian coast guard but also the EUNAVFOR MED, FRONTEX, MOAS, merchant vessels, etc.