Actors and factors in the governance of irregular migration : a comparative analysis of Albanian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Pakistani and Afghani irregular flows to Greece

The loss of over a thousand human lives in the effort to cross the Mediterranean during April 2015 has once again drawn media and political attention to the challenges that the EU is facing in its efforts to govern migration and asylum. However, what seems to be still far from complete is our (the experts and the politicians) understanding of what drives people to put their lives at risk in search of a better future. What are the motivations of migrants, and what information do they have, how do they organise the journey, how much do they know and how much are they in control of their own destinies?