The response of the forensic anthropology scientific community to migrant deaths: Where are we at and where do we stand?

Abstract

Migrant deaths have persistently intensified in the last 30 years, followed by inconsistent engagement of official policies to tackle the lack of identifications. Forensic anthropologists have been increasingly involved in the recovery, analysis and identification of human remains associated with migrants, and are therefore the most well-versed practitioners in raising awareness of policy makers about this plight. This review describes the current state-of-the-art of the forensic anthropological practice and research on unidentified migrants. The focus of the review is twofold: one section explores the current legal, logistical, and administrative issues related to management and identification activities, primarily in Europe and North America. The second section addresses the scientific contributions and new challenges that forensic anthropologists face when analyzing skeletal remains from underrepresented and unreferenced population groups. According to this literature review, forensic anthropologists are the professionals most actively involved in addressing the issue of unidentified migrants. Despite significant efforts, several challenges still hinder identifications in this context, including the inability to create comprehensive databases for collecting postmortem and antemortem data. Recently, scientific research in forensic anthropology has begun to address the limitations in developing reliable biological profiles for deceased migrants, as these groups are often inadequately represented in existing skeletal reference populations. Finally, this review highlights the global efforts of the scientific community to integrate these victims into a well-established identification system, aiming to foster public responsibility and promote the adoption of unified and innovative strategies to comprehensively address and resolve this social, scientific, and humanitarian crisis.