From Humanitarian Rescue to Border Security: Managing Migration in the Central Mediterranean

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-485
Author(s):  
Gemma Marolda Gloninger
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Aggregate Data ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Border Security ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Humanitarian Principle

Abstract While images of boats in distress, overflowing with migrants in the Central Mediterranean, flash on television screens and front pages of Italian and European newspapers, search and rescue (SAR) missions continue to draw attention. This article takes a look at migratory flows across the Central Mediterranean from 2012 to 2018 and focuses on the response of governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental actors rescuing lives at sea. Using aggregate data on migrants’ sea arrivals and deaths as well as official documents from the UNHRC, the European Union, Italy’s Ministry of Interior, and NGOs, this study investigates 1) how different actors have responded to migratory flows across the Central Mediterranean, and 2) how actors’ narratives and response have impacted the situation at sea. The study finds that, although all three actors act on the humanitarian principle ‘to save lives,’ their narratives and response diverge as the intensity of sea arrivals persists.

scholarly journals SECURITIZATION OF SEARCH AND RESCUE AT SEA: THE RESPONSE TO BOAT MIGRATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND OFFSHORE AUSTRALIA

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ghezelbash ◽  
Violeta Moreno-Lax ◽  
Natalie Klein ◽  
Brian Opeskin
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Border Security ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Common Trends ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
State Practice ◽  
The Mediterranean

AbstractThis article compares the law and practice of the European Union and Australia in respect to the search and rescue (SAR) of boat migrants, concluding that the response to individuals in peril at sea in both jurisdictions is becoming increasingly securitized. This has led to the humanitarian purpose of SAR being compromised in the name of border security. Part I contrasts the unique challenge posed by SAR operations involving migrants and asylum seekers, as opposed to other people in distress at sea. Part II analyses the relevant international legal regime governing SAR activities and its operation among European States and in offshore Australia. Part III introduces the securitization framework as the explanatory paradigm for shifting State practice and its impact in Europe and Australia. It then examines the consequences of increasing securitization of SAR in both jurisdictions and identifies common trends, including an increase in militarization and criminalization, a lack of transparency and accountability, developments relating to disembarkation andnon-refoulement, and challenges relating to cooperation and commodification.

ICTs and Border Security Policies in the United States and the European Union

2011 ◽  
pp. 373-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Shields
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Border Security ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
Management Regime

ICT-related initiatives have dominated the border security strategies of the United States and the European Union in recent years. One set of surveillance systems fortifies the borderline. Another set is creating new frontiers away from the traditional boundary. The objectives of this chapter are to provide a detailed mapping and critical assessment of this two-pronged approach. With respect to the assessment, two arguments are made. First, there are good reasons to believe the approach is not enabling the authorities to deter identified border threats. Second, the approach is contributing to a border management regime that is having an increasingly divergent impact on the mobility and life chances of different groups and populations. In conclusion, it is suggested the inefficacy of the approach is due to contradictions and blind spots embedded in policy maker’s approaches to security issues. Remarks are offered as to why US and EU decision makers emphasize the role of ICTs as they seek to reconstitute their respective borders.

scholarly journals The Role of NGOs in Search and Rescue Operations in the Context of the European Union Migration Crisis

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-91
Author(s):  
U. Stoliarova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
Immigration Issue

In the early 2010s due to the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, the European Union faced an unprecedented escalation of the migration problem, which put serious pressure on many EU mechanisms. The article analyzes Brussels’ response to the increase in the number of victims in the Mediterranean Sea during the migration crisis, which peaked in 2015. The adoption of new initiatives that were aimed at easing the immigration issue did not lead to the expected results. The EU struggled to cope with a rise in the number of migrants who sought to reach European shores. The real challenge for the arriving migrants was crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Amid the increase in unmanaged flows of refugees and regular shipwrecks that led to the death of many migrants, non-governmental organizations stepped out. The organization and conduct of search and rescue operations (SARs) by NGOs led to the emergence of a new type of SARs, non-state ones, since even large NGOs began to conduct such operations for the first time. The article examines the contribution of European non-governmental organizations to the provision of search and rescue operations, as well as analyzes the main problems and challenges that these NGOs faced while implementing such activities from 2014 to 2020. It is concluded that European non-governmental organizations have saved tens of thousands of lives of migrants and refugees, thus becoming an important element in the EU’s migration crisis settlement. At the same time, they faced a number of problems and challenges, including criticism from some EU member states, which considered the activities of NGOs as a pull-factor for new migrants.

scholarly journals Saving Lives at Sea: Security, Law and Adverse Effects

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tugba Basaran
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Border Security ◽  
Third Party ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
Strait Of Sicily ◽  
Proper Functioning ◽  
Security Concerns

In the wake of recent shipwrecks at the Strait of Sicily, the European Union and its Member States have come under renewed pressure to address rescue at sea. Saving lives at sea is not simply a question of enhancing eu rescue efforts, however, but requires eliminating third party sanctions that significantly impede the proper functioning of the international rescue regime. This article focuses on anti-smuggling laws and related instruments and their thorny relation to humanitarian acts. To improve rescue efforts at sea, as a first step all humanitarian acts need to be exempted from criminal sanctions (including the eu Directive 2002/90/ec). This needs to be accompanied by efforts to desecuritize rescue, separating rescue from border security concerns.

scholarly journals Migrant rescue as organized hypocrisy: EU maritime missions offshore Libya between humanitarianism and border control

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenio Cusumano
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Border Control ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Externalities ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
The Common ◽  
Maritime Search And Rescue

In November 2014, Frontex started its Southern Mediterranean border monitoring operation Triton, followed in June 2015 by the Common Security and Defence Policy anti-smuggling mission EU Naval Force Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR Med) ‘Sophia’. Both operations’ outward communication has placed considerable emphasis on the conduct of maritime search and rescue. Still, this commitment was not matched by consistent action. Triton and EUNAVFOR Med have conducted a relatively limited number of search and rescue operations, prioritizing border control and anti-smuggling tasks. This article explains the gap between the European Union missions’ humanitarian rhetoric and an operational conduct primarily focusing on curbing irregular migration as a form of organized hypocrisy. Decoupling talk and action allowed Triton and EUNAVFOR Med to reconcile the conflicting expectations arising from European governments’ willingness to reduce migrant arrivals and the normative imperative to act against the loss of life at sea. However, the European Union missions’ organized hypocrisy had several negative externalities, hindering effective management of the humanitarian crisis offshore Libya.

Droga Polski do Schengen – osiągnięcia i wyzwania w zakresie zmiany systemu ochrony granicy zewnętrznej UE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Ryszard Suduł
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Science ◽  
The State ◽  
State System ◽  
Border Security ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Basic Objective ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Eu

Author analyses in the article the problem of functioning of the external borders of the Republic of Poland in the Schengen area. The text frames the analysis in the context of the political science. The author discusses the changes in state system of protection of the state border of the Republic of Poland resulting from the integration of the Republic of Poland with the European Union, in particular with the Schengen area. The basic objective of the article is the analysis of the scope and type of organisational and administrative-logistic undertakings in the field of border protection after Poland’s participation in the Schengen Area. The analysis is started with characterisation of changes in the system of management of the state border and the ways of functioning of border services in connection with the accession to the EU were characterised. EU requirements for strengthening border infrastructure and the system of cooperation between institutions responsible for border security were also analysed. As a result, the accession of the Republic of Poland to the Schengen area entailed a complete change in the strategy of managing the state borders.

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