AAU Student Projects - visit Aalborg University's student projects portal
A master's thesis from Aalborg University
Book cover


Inside Out - Outside In: Territorial, Intra-territorial and Extra-territorial Migration Management

Author

Term

4. term

Publication year

2014

Submitted on

Pages

62

Abstract

Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan migration på tværs af grænser er blevet gjort til et sikkerhedsanliggende (sikkerhedsliggørelse), og hvordan det har styrket grænsekontrol og udvidet migrationsstyring både uden for og inden for EU’s territorium. Analysen bygger på Schengen-aftalen, Den Europæiske Naboskabspolitik, det Regionale Beskyttelsesprogram og Det Fælles Europæiske Asylsystem. Afhandlingen anvender Københavnerskolens teori om sikkerhedsliggørelse til at forklare, hvordan og hvorfor migrationsstyring er blevet rammesat som et sikkerhedsproblem, og er metodisk forankret i socialkonstruktivisme. Datagrundlaget spænder fra avisartikler til EU-politikpapirer. Hovedfundet er, at Schengen-området med fri bevægelighed for kapital, varer og arbejdskraft er blevet ledsaget af øget kontrol som svar på en opfattet trussel fra immigration. Kontrollen er gradvist udvidet fra at være territorielt afgrænset til også at være ekstraterritoriel (flyttet til tredjelande via Naboskabspolitikken og det Regionale Beskyttelsesprogram) og intraterritoriel (placeret inde i EU via Det Fælles Europæiske Asylsystem). Disse nye former for styring har haft konsekvenser for flygtninge og asylansøgere, og den samlede beskyttelsesstandard er faldet i takt med, at kontrollen er øget.

This thesis examines how cross-border migration has been treated as a security issue (“securitization”), and how this has reinforced border control and extended migration management both beyond and within the EU. The analysis focuses on the Schengen Agreement, the European Neighborhood Policy, the Regional Protection Program, and the Common European Asylum System. Using the Copenhagen School’s securitization theory and a social constructivist approach, the study explains how and why migration management has been framed as a security problem. It draws on empirical sources ranging from newspaper articles to EU policy documents. The main finding is that Schengen’s area of free movement for capital, goods, and labor has been accompanied by tighter controls in response to a perceived threat from immigration. Control has gradually expanded from territorially bounded measures to extra-territorial ones (shifting practices to third countries via the Neighborhood Policy and the Regional Protection Program) and intra-territorial ones (placing management inside the EU through the Common European Asylum System). These developments have affected refugees and asylum seekers, and the overall protection standard has declined as control has increased.

[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]