Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

The Securitisation of Migration

Gillian Wylie is Assistant Professor in International Peace Studies at Trinity College Dublin. Dr Wylie’s research expertise is in human trafficking. In her presentation she looks at how migration is increasingly viewed as a security threat and argues for the reorientation of current political discourses towards human security.

She tackles 3 questions:

Why has migration become securitised?
How is the framing of migration as a security threat informing European responses to the current crisis?
What are the consequences of these policies for those seeking refuge in Europe?

Why has migration become securitised?

End of WWII
- Transnational migration seen as an economic or humanitarian issue. Not seen as a threat to security.
- 40 million refugees in Europe 1945 resettled by 1951.
End of Cold War
- Start of neoliberal globalisation
- New security threats: ‘rogue’ states, terrorists
- Shift in thinking from national security to human security
The ‘great contradiction of globalisation’
Criminalisation of migration
Bureaucratic borders: biometric data, visas, surveillance

How is the framing of migration as a security threat informing European responses to the current crisis?

Schengen agreement: Europe opened internal borders and tightened external borders
The ‘burkini controversy’
4 miles of razor wire topped fence
Traffickers and smugglers painted as the same
Operation Sophia – EU naval searches for arms and human trafficking

What are the consequences of these policies for those seeking refuge in Europe?

Greek/Macedonian border described as “warehouse of souls” by Greek Prime Minister
French response: policing of Calais camps
Migration seen as a criminal act
Trafficking as a security threat
‘Fortress Europe’ of ever tighter borders
Consequences of such policies that Wylie notes:
- more difficult for migrants and refugees to integrate
- affects humanity of host society
- creates politics of fear
- legitimises right-wing, populist politics