The dual role of Frontex in humanitarian border policing
Author
Ghalichi, Andy
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2018
Submitted on
2018-10-16
Abstract
Specialet undersøger Frontex’ dobbelte rolle i at forme både sikkerheds- og humanitære logikker ved EU’s ydre grænser. Med et konstruktivistisk risikobegreb spørger det, hvordan Frontex bidrager til at konstruere migranter samtidigt som en risiko, der skal kontrolleres, og som en befolkning i risiko, der kræver beskyttelse, og hvordan disse konstruktioner bruges til at legitimere grænsekontrol. Undersøgelsen kombinerer en sociologisk læsning af Frontex’ praksisser med en kritisk diskursanalyse inspireret af Norman Fairclough af Annual Risk Analysis-rapporter fra 2010 til 2018, med nærstudier af udgaverne 2010, 2014, 2016 og 2018, og sætter teksterne i relation til relevante forordninger, Common Integrated Risk Analysis Model og beslægtede policy-dokumenter. Med afsæt i sekuritiseringsteori (Københavnerskolen og Parisskolen) samt rammerne om den humanitære grænse og humanitær rationalitet sporer analysen, hvordan sikkerheds- og omsorgsrationaler krydser hinanden i Frontex’ risikonarrativer. Den finder, at fremstillingen af migranter som i risiko tiltager over tid, mens fremstillingen af migranter som en risiko er til stede fra begyndelsen og vedvarer. Ved at koble diskurs til sociale praksisser argumenterer specialet for, at Frontex’ praksisser og rapportering former migrationens fremstilling på måder, der legitimerer udvidelsen af grænseforvaltning, også med humanitære begrundelser.
This thesis investigates the dual role of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in shaping both security and humanitarian logics at the EU’s external borders. Adopting a constructivist understanding of risk, it asks how Frontex contributes to constructing migrants simultaneously as a risk to be controlled and as a population at risk in need of protection, and how these constructions help legitimize border control. The study combines a sociological reading of Frontex’s practices with a critical discourse analysis, inspired by Norman Fairclough, of Annual Risk Analysis reports from 2010 to 2018, with close readings of the 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018 editions, and situates these texts alongside relevant regulations, the Common Integrated Risk Analysis Model and related policy documents. Drawing on securitization theory (Copenhagen and Paris Schools) and on the frameworks of the humanitarian border and humanitarian reason, the analysis traces how security and care rationales intersect in Frontex’s risk narratives. It finds that over time the framing of migrants as at risk gains prominence, while the framing of migrants as a risk is present from the outset and persists. By linking discourse to social practices, the thesis argues that Frontex’s practices and reporting shape portrayals of migration in ways that legitimize the expansion of border management, including through humanitarian justifications.
[This summary has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project (PDF)]
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