According to data provided by the International Organisation for Migration, in the last 15 years almost 30,000 people have died in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Italy.

Death at the border

For those who arrive alive despite the risks of the journey across the Mediterranean Sea, not to mention the hardships they endured to get to the water's edge, reaching Italy doesn't mean the end their problems. In fact, for the many of them who would like to leave Italy and reach relatives or look for work in other European countries, continuing their journey to northern Europe is still impossible: they are stopped at internal EU borders.

Being able to cross borders becomes a matter of life or death. On 14 January a migrant died after being electrocuted on the roof of a train as he tried to leave Italy. He was just one of the very many migrants waiting at the Italian-French border for an opportunity to enter France without being stopped by the border security control. His case is the fifth - from the beginning of the 2017 until today - of a migrant who has died trying to pass the French border at Ventimiglia. Open Migration has documented other cases not only in Ventimiglia but also in Como and at the Brenner.

'Lampedusa of the mountains'

But there is another route that could be potentially more dangerous for migrants: the Alps. For many migrants who have already made unsuccessful attempts to cross the border at more traditional points are now trying to reach France along alpine passes through the mountains.

The start of this route is the small mountain town of Bardonecchia, which has been dubbed the "Lampedusa of the mountains." The path through the mountain is long and hard at all times, but now, when the winter weather is at its peak, this journey is extraordinarily dangerous. But desperate migrants continue to brave it, because they feel like it is their only choice.

Helping those braving the journey are only a few volunteers on both sides of the border, who try to do as much as possible to prevent people from dying from the cold.