Failed Securitisation Moves during the 2015 ‘Migration Crisis’

The EU has tried to distinguish itself as respecting human rights in its migration policies. In 2015, mass drownings at sea of refugees from war‐torn and despotic countries like Syria and Eritrea started to rise with the end of Mare Nostrum, the Italian navy's search and rescue operation in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International migration 2019-08, Vol.57 (4), p.181-196
Main Author: Hintjens, Helen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Crime
Criminal gangs
Human rights
Immigration policy
Legitimacy
Mass media
Migration
Navy
Refugees
Search and rescue
Search and rescue missions
Securitization
Slave trade
Smuggling
War
War crimes
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Summary:The EU has tried to distinguish itself as respecting human rights in its migration policies. In 2015, mass drownings at sea of refugees from war‐torn and despotic countries like Syria and Eritrea started to rise with the end of Mare Nostrum, the Italian navy's search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean. One EU response was to declare a war on “criminal gangs” of smugglers and traffickers, reportedly responsible for the surge in refugee deaths. Equating smugglers’ activities with a “new slave trade”, this “securitization move” failed to gain legitimacy from EU publics and media. Military solutions to refugee flight continued to be proposed, and a second securitization move continued to target smugglers and traffickers, but this time the “referent object” became the West itself, and the EU.
ISSN:0020-7985
1468-2435
DOI:10.1111/imig.12588