«Criminalisation» of captains and crimmigration in the central Mediterranean

Based on 15 in-depth qualitative interviews with key informants in Sicily, this article aims to explore the issue of border securitization through the criminalization of migrant boat drivers along the Central Mediterranean route, and the intersection between immigration control and criminal justice—an overlap that the English-language literature defines as crimmigration. This convergence between criminal law and immigration law in the formulation and enforcement of border control policies raises questions about the meaning of the judicial prosecution of so-called scafisti (boat drivers), here referred to as captains, following the terminology used by humanitarian organizations. As we shall see, these captains—far from being integral members of organized human trafficking networks—represent only a minor and often coerced component in the facilitation of irregular migratory flows. Nevertheless, they become particularly vulnerable targets, whose criminalization exemplifies a broader process of criminalization and securitization within contemporary border control policies.