No Anonymous Crosses the Styx: The Right to Identification of the Unidentified Dead Migrant According to International Law Principles

Every year a significant number of migrants die on the Mediterranean Sea as a result of drowning due to dangerous transportation methods to cross the sea. Many of those migrants remain unidentified because of a
lack of ante mortem information. In this research international legal and literary sources were assessed to analyse the existence of a right to identification for drowned migrants. The analysed international law principles and the rationale of those legal rules, reflect the implicit existence of a right to identification. This
right to identification exists from a twofold perspective. Namely, from the perspective of the deceased and from the perspective of the surviving relatives. These rights to identification, following from the right to have a name, the right to life and the right to truth can only be invoked if states are willing to take their responsibility.