Topics of Contributions
Social Work’s Entanglements in Externalization of EU Migration Regimes
This paper gives a summary of various geopolitical issues of colonial continuities in the context of migration and mobility.[1] The increasingly authoritarian character of EU border management raises a number of issues related to the role of social work within a context that is heavily charged, both ideologically and politically. Based on critical analysis of […]
8 October 2024
Externalization, Human Dignity and Asylum
This article is dedicated to the question of externalization and human dignity in the context of asylum in Europe. It is based on the assumption that administrative technologies that organize the accommodation of asylum seekers with the help of models of spatial segregation operate in a logic of externalization. This logic aims at the material […]
15 September 2024
The Geopolitics of Externalization: Diplomacy, Deal-Making and Transactional Forced Migration
In the current political environment, states and their proxies go to great lengths to repel would-be asylum seekers and other migrants, increasingly using an array of tools of statecraft to prevent people from reaching their territories. These include externalizing migration processes in ways that feature transactional ‘deals’ and ‘partnerships’, which include a significant transfer of resources from one […]
14 September 2024
Outsourcing Asylum to African States? An endeavour destined to fail
Rwanda is not the first country to be addressed by European states in the matter of accepting third-country asylum seekers. The current debate is rather the most recent endeavour in an ongoing externalization effort that tries to convince African countries by various carrot and stick methods to take back their own “rejected” nationals, and ideally, […]
11 September 2024
Flipping the Narrative on Border Externalisation: An African Migrant Perspective
Border externalisation represents a growing trend in global migration policy, where nations seek to manage migration flows by pushing their border controls beyond their own territories. This practice disproportionately impacts African migrants, who face significant challenges and dangers as a result. This short piece examines these impacts through the lens of an African migrant scholar […]
26 August 2024
Moving beyond externalisation? Toward lawful cooperation on asylum
As externalisation is back on the policy agenda in a number of regions around the world, it is timely to examine the definition of the concept, noting that it is not a legal term of art and does not appear in any international treaty. Moreover, it is crucial to understand the international legal frameworks within […]
8 August 2024
Externalising Perceived Crises: A View from Europe’s Southern and Eastern neighbours
European discourses on migration have historically been dominated by a crisis narrative, often centred around the influx of non-EU migrants. This Eurocentric perspective has led to policies focusing on externalising border control through agreements with neighbouring non-EU countries, such as the EU-Turkey Deal in 2016 and proposed ‘disembarkation platforms’ in North Africa in 2018. This […]
6 August 2024
Guarding the Gates: The Externalization of U.S. Migration Policies and Their Impact Across the Americas
This contribution examines the extensive measures implemented by the United States to control and deter migration both internally and externally. Internally, it analyzes the policies of the Trump and Biden administrations, highlighting the militarization of the border, increased detention, and the erosion of asylum protections. Externally, it explores the U.S.’s use of externalization strategies, such […]
31 July 2024
Externalisation and Northern European Dreams of Avoiding Asylum Seekers
In the 2020s, several European countries have witnessed the reactivation of policy ambitions to externalise parts or the entirety of asylum obligations beyond their national territory. This article explains the trajectory of such recent attempts by Danish and British governments, the controversy surrounding them, and the ways in which these attempts are linked to the […]
24 July 2024
Externalisation, “Asylum Ban” and the Future of Human Rights
Externalisation of asylum and its related concept of “asylum ban” are some of the clearest manifestations of a retreat by Global North countries from their own “celebrated” commitment to international human rights standards. They are the most potent challenges to the modern conception of human rights, originating from least suspected quarters that claim to have […]
23 July 2024