Britain and other European nations are making the refugee crisis worse by forcing people fleeing conflict and persecution to undertake covert and treacherous journeys, a report has found.

The damning report by the Unravelling the Mediterranean Migration Crisis (Medmig) project, seen exclusively by The Independent ahead of its release, concluded that the refusal to open up legal routes for those seeking safety in Europe has increased demand for people smuggling on ever more dangerous routes.

Operations to combat the thriving trade has driven the use of smaller and less seaworthy boats to cross the Mediterranean, contributing to the deaths of almost 4,000 migrants so far in 2016 – now the deadliest year ever for refugees.

Italian coastguard rescues thousands of refugees off coast of Libya

Professor Heaven Crawley, an author of the report from Coventry University’s Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations told The Independent politicians have been “wantonly ignoring” the reality of the crisis to maintain ill-informed government positions.

“The problem is there’s a huge political agenda around migration, so more pragmatic of effective alternatives are being overridden by political aspirations of leaders across the EU,” she said.

“They’ve backed themselves into a political corner where it’s very difficult to do anything else.”

Professor Crawley said the UK’s initial refusal to resettle refugees who had already crossed into Europe was “appalling” as an estimated 60,000 migrants remain trapped in Greece alone.

"All that response does is reinforce some of the perceptions that if you’re a ‘proper’ or ‘genuine’ refugee you stay in a camp and wait for however long it takes to be rescued, and those who make it to the EU are punished,” she added. “Families find that inconceivable.”

Life jackets are pictured on the Topaz Responder, a rescue ship run by Maltese NGO MOAS during a navigation to reach the rescue area, off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea, (AFP/Getty)

Far from combating people smuggling, the report found European operations, border closures and the tightening of asylum regulations in several countries was directly driving refugees into their hands, with every single person interviewed using a smuggler for at least one leg of their journey.

Dr Franck Duvell, from the Centre on Migration Policy and Society at the University of Oxford, said: “EU politicians and policy makers have repeatedly declared they are ‘at war’ with the smugglers and that they intend to ‘break the smugglers business model’.

“The evidence from our research suggests that smuggling is driven, rather than broken, by EU policy.

“The closure of borders seems likely to have significantly increased the demand for, and use of, smugglers – who have become the only option for those unable to leave their countries or enter countries in which protection might potentially be available to them.”

One in 10 refugees interviewed in Greece for the report had attempted to find a legal way to enter Europe but failed, resorting to almost a hundred different and potentially deadly routes that often cost far more than a legal journey.

(© MEDMIG) (© MEDMIG and Chris Davies WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff)

Many used smugglers for boat crossings but needed them to leave conflict-ridden countries like Syria, where hostile governments or militant groups have attempted to seal borders.

European politicians frequently depict smugglers as part of vast criminal networks but the Medmig report found they are often found in asylum seekers’ local communities or social networks, with names and numbers travelling by word of mouth.

State officials, the military, law enforcement, and border guards are also involved in smuggling, researchers said, citing numerous testimonies of smugglers bribing police in Greece, Turkey and other countries of transit.

Boat journeys across the Aegean Sea have dropped sharply since the controversial deal made between the EU and Turkey in March, which is seeing migrants arriving on Greek islands detained under the threat of deportation.

The agreement’s impact has been widely hailed a success but it has been made fragile by growing tensions with Ankara. “Most people agree that it’s only a matter of time before that deal falls apart or people find another way,” Professor Crawley said.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

Meanwhile, the number of asylum seekers arriving from North Africa has remained consistent despite high-profile anti-smuggling initiatives, with almost 160,000 migrants and refugees landing in Italy so far this year.

The desperate journeys have made the central Mediterranean the deadliest sea crossing in the world, seeing asylum seekers drown, suffocate or die of fuel inhalation in overcrowded boats.

In previous years smugglers commonly used repurposed commercial vessels fitted with satellite phones and GPS, or large fishing boats, but to evade detection by the EU’s Operation Sophia and authorities in North Africa, they are now loading migrants into dinghies incapable of journeying hundreds of miles to European shores.

Echoing previous warnings by the UN, the Medmig report said smugglers responded to increased controls by “looking for alternative routes or sent boats onto the water at night when they were less likely to be detected and also to be rescued”.

Treacherous sea journeys are far from the only risk – researchers said the failure of the EU to resettle refugees or provide legal routes were forcing people to flee from one conflict zone to another at the risk of violence and abuse by both people smugglers and state authorities.

A Worker with the international charitable organisation Save the Children carries a young Syrian girl, brought aboard the Vos Hestia after being rescued from a migrant boat in the Mediterranean Sea (AP)

More than three quarters of people interviewed for the research in Italy and Malta had experienced physical violence, with almost a third watching their fellow migrants be killed or die of illness.

Among the horrors described are border guards shooting migrants trying to leave Iran, Syria and Eritrea, and people being raped, kidnapped, beaten and tortured or simply left to die in the desert while journeying through countries including Algeria and Niger.

Many described a living nightmare in Libya, which remains in a widespread state of lawlessness following the British-backed removal of Muammar Gaddafi and subsequent civil war, with rival armed groups including Isis locked in bloody competition for control.

Many refugees interviewed by Medmig reported being detained and tortured either for ransoms of thousands of dollars, or forced into labour or prostitution to earn their freedom.

Libya was once a popular destination for migrant workers from elsewhere in Africa but the deteriorating situation has driven many of those who previously saw it as a safe haven to flee across the Mediterranean.

A Gambian man interviewed by Medmig told how he was trapped into forced labour by the promise of a prosperous construction project.

“I spent nine months in prison, it was too long … we were two, three, four days without food or water, many people lost their life there,” he said.

“You work for them, when somebody dies you have to move the body for them, they take you and tell you to throw the body in the ditch. It is inhuman.”

Migrants and refugees arrive in the port of Messina following a rescue operation at sea by the Italian Coast Guard ship 'Diciotti' on March 17, 2016 in Sicily (AFP/Getty)

Leaving Libya via land is not considered an option, with widespread reports of border guards and militias shooting those trying to get out.

A Nigerian woman said she saw a border guard pour petrol on a migrant and set him on fire, adding: “You cannot get out of Libya alive. You have to give your money to someone and hope they will take you. They tell you, you must take the boat.”

Medmig researchers says the country was one of many examples where “refugees” and “economic migrants” cannot be clearly defined.

“The definition is just out of kilter with reality,” Professor Crawley said. “The longer and more protracted the journey is, the more likely it is people move out of those categories and then back into them.”

She gave the examples of Syrian refugees who were not directly affected by the war but fled because their livelihoods were destroyed, and migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa caught up in the Libyan conflict.

The report was also critical of moves to prioritise refugees from Syria, and sometimes Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea over asylum seekers from other countries, in a possible violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The Medmig project, believed to be one of the largest of its kind, used interviews with more than 500 asylum seekers who crossed the Mediterranean in 2015.

Its report, to be launched at a meeting of European policy makers, international organisations and NGOs in Brussels on Thursday, is a collaboration between the universities of Coventry, Birmingham and Oxford with specialists in Greece, Italy, Turkey and Malta.

Refugees struggle not to drown as they wait to be rescued in the Mediterranean Sea, north of Libya on 4 October 2016. (AFP/Getty Images)

“The cause of the flow hasn’t been addressed, smugglers haven’t been addressed, deaths are going up and people who are in Europe are not being integrated as they should be,” Professor Crawley said.

“The response has been an absolute failure.”

A Government spokesperson said the UK has committed more than £2.3 billion to help displaced people in Syria and neighbouring countries and almost £65 million to support humanitarian assistance within Europe.

The Royal Navy also started training the Libyan coastguard in October as part of the EU's Operation Sophia, which sees boats patrolling the Mediterranean tracking smugglers and performing rescues.

“We are clear about our moral responsibility to assist those who are suffering as a result of the migration crisis," the spokesperson said.