The relevant role of university in the identification of dead migrants: A comparative study on the experience of University of Milan and Texas State University

Universities have always played an important role in defining and responding to national and international challenges by figuring out how to generate dialogue and debates surrounding global challenges, and provide suggestions and mechanisms for solving them. Current challenges facing the world are demanding and complex, such as migration. Among the many issues associated with migration, the loss of so many migrants’ lives during their journey is of paramount importance: Many victims remain nameless because no proper identify actions are taken. Moreover, there is still a lack of awareness of this specific problem, and still no consensus on how to handle it meticulously (“when” “wherein” and “who” should intervene in such context?). Despite the ambiguity and uncertainty in such a scenario, in Texas (Texas State University) and Italy (University of Milan), the role played by universities in the contribution of identifying migrant victims has been demonstrated to be very similar, and more importantly, successful. Their participation concerns the rigorous work in situ, the demanding ongoing-work in the lab and the strict bond with non-governmental and governmental organizations and private associations. In both cases, the continuum and burdensome engagement depends mostly on resources, personnel, and funds coming from the university. This study aims to highlight the efforts carried out by the two universities for this challenging topic, with the intent to show differences and similarities in their experiences. In both examples, the universities have demonstrated that proper application of knowledge, background and skills, and resources, can result in positive identification, though obtaining funds to keep the work moving forward is a common challenge. The results demonstrate not only the potential of universities to guide the process of migrant identifications, but the relevance of their engagements to human rights and social policy matters, bolstered through their connections with both governmental and non-governmental institutions.