Humanitarian operations to rescue migrants attempting the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea do not encourage further crossings, a modelling study said on Thursday.
The finding contradicts claims that charity-run ships that find and save migrants in the Mediterranean incentivize people to risk their lives trying to get to the European Union.
Instead, migrants are driven to make the perilous voyage by intensifying conflict, natural disasters or economic hardship in their country of origin, according to the study.