Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The EU and the Politics of Migration in the Mediterranean: From Crisis Management to Management in Crisis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Border Crises and Human Mobility in the Mediterranean Global South

Part of the book series: Critical Security Studies in the Global South ((CSSGS))

Abstract

This chapter explores EU migration policies to manage large-scale movements in the Mediterranean Global South. It maps, interrogates and explains the assumptions underlying EU policy responses in times of crisis, their mismatch with migration dynamics and migrants’ coping strategies, as well as their human (in)security implications. The chapter problematises the role of the EU as one of the many actors in the Mediterranean Global South, where rather multiple agencies (third countries, migrants, asylum-seekers, smugglers, etc.) are at stake. It proposes the concept of ‘humanitarian vacuum’ to reflect on the relation between migration policies and the humanitarian dimension of migratory phenomena and argues that EU policy assumptions to secure external and internal borders are not only ineffective but reproducing the same phenomena they are supposed to contain, in a continuous interplay between security, migration and border politics. The consequence is that migration crises in the Mediterranean Global South are set to travel back to the future in a vicious cycle of border closures, flows and humanitarian vacuums.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albahari, M. 2018. From-Right-to-Permission: Asylum, Mediterranean-Migrations, and-Europe’s War-on-Smuggling. Journal-on-Migration-and-Human-Security 6 (2): 121–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson, R. 2016. Europe’s Failed ‘Fight’ Against Irregular Migration: Ethnographic Notes on a Counterproductive Industry. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 42 (7): 1055–1075.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreas, P. 2000. Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhagwati, J. 2003. Borders Beyond Control. Foreign Affairs 82 (1): 98–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benedicto, A. R., and P. Brunet. 2018. Building Walls. Barcelona: Centre d’Estudis per la Pau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonjour, S. 2011. The Power and Morals of Policymakers: Reassessing the Control Gap Debate. International Migration Review 45 (1): 89–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boswell, C., and A. Geddes. 2011. Migration and Mobility in the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buzan, B., O. Wæver, and J. de-Wilde. 1998. Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caponio, T., and T. M. Cappiali. 2018. Italian Migration Policies in Times of Crisis: the Policy-Gap Reconsidered. South European Society and Politics 23 (1): 15–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carling, J. 2002. Migration in the Age of Involuntary Immobility: Theoretical Reflections and Cape Verdean Experiences. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 28 (1): 5–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carling, J., and M. Hernández-Carretero. 2011. Protecting Europe and Protecting Migrants? Strategies for Managing Unauthorised Migration from Africa. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 13 (1): 43–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castels, S. 2004. Why Migration Policies Fail. Ethnic and Racial Studies 27 (2): 205–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • CHS. 2003. Human Security Now. New York: Commission on Human Security.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornelius, Wayne A. 2005. Controlling ‘Unwanted’ Immigration: Lessons from the United-States, 1993–2004. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31 (4): 775–794.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornelius, Wayne A., and R. Rosenblum. 2005. Immigration and Politics. Annual Review of Political Science 8: 99–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawley, H., and D. Skleparis. 2018. Refugees, Migrants, neither both: Categorical Fetishism and the Politics of Bounding in Europe’s ‘Migration Crisis’. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44 (1): 48–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Czaika, M., and H. de Haas. 2013. The Effectiveness of Immigration Policies. Population and Development Review 39 (3): 487–508.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danish Refugee Council. 2017. Fundamental Rights and the EU Hotspot Approach, N.017/10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimitriadi, A. 2017. Governing Irregular Migration at the Margins of Europe. The Case of Hotspots on the Greek Islands. Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa 1: 75–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duszczyk, M., K. Podgórska, and D. Pszczółkowska. 2020. From Mandatory to Voluntary. Impact of V4 on the EU Relocation Scheme. European Politics and Society 21 (4): 470–487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Düvell, F. 2005. Illegal Immigration in Europe: Beyond-Control? Houndmills: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • EU Council. 2015. EUCAP Sahel Niger to Help Prevent Irregular Migration, 13/05/2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • EU Council. 2017. EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia: Mandate Extended until 31 December 2018, 25/07/2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Council. 2019. New Strategic Agenda 2019–2024. Brussels: European Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • EU Council. 2020a. Statement on the Situation at the EU’s External Borders, 04/03/2020.

    Google Scholar 

  • EU Council. 2020b. Statement of the Foreign Affairs Council, 06/03/2020.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. 2015a. EU Agenda on Migration. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. 2015b. EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling (2015–2020). Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. 2015c. The European Agenda on Security. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. 2017. Managing Flows, Saving Lives. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. 2020. New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontana, I. 2020. Migration Crisis, Organised Crime and Domestic Politics in Italy: Unfolding the Interplay. South European Society and Politics 25 (1): 49–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontana, I. 2021. The Human (In)security Trap: How European Border(ing) Practices Condemn Migrants to Vulnerability. International Politics. Online First: 1-20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fröhlich, C. 2017. A Critical View on Human Mobility in Times of Crisis. Glob Policy 8: 5–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garelli, G. and M. Tazzioli. 2018. The Humanitarian War Against Migrant Smugglers at Sea. Antipode 50 (3): 685–703.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geddes, A., L. Hadj-Abdou, and L. Bruma. 2020. Migration and Mobility in the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huysmans, J. 2000. The European Union and the Securitization of Migration. Journal of Common Market Studies 38 (5): 751–777.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huysmans, J., and V. Squire. 2010. Migration and Security. In Handbook of Security Studies, ed. M. Dunn Cavelty and V. Mauer, 169–179. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeandesboz, J., and P. Pallister-Wilkins. 2014. Crisis, Enforcement and Control at the EU Borders. In Crisis and Migration: Critical Perspectives, ed. A. Lindley, 115–135. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeandesboz, J., and P. Pallister-Wilkins. 2016. Crisis, Routine, Consolidation: The Politics of the Mediterranean Migration Crisis. Mediterranean Politics 21 (2): 316–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karadağ, S. 2019. Extraterritoriality of European Borders to Turkey: An Implementation Perspective of Counteractive Strategies. Comparative Migration Studies 7 (12): 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klaus, W., and M. Pachocka. 2019. Examining the Global North Migration Policies: a “Push Out–Push Back” Approach to Forced Migration. International Migration 57 (5): 280–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuschminder, K. 2021. The Multi-Level Governance of Asylum in Italy: Understanding Eritreans’ Secondary Movements in Search of Relocation within Italy. Journal of Refugee Studies 34 (1): 285–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linder, S., and B. G. Peters. 1987. A Design Perspective on Policy Implementation: the Fallacies of Misplaced Prescription. Policy Studies Review 6 (3): 459–475.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacMahon, S., and N. Sigona.2018. Navigating the Central Mediterranean in a Time of ‘Crisis’: Disentangling Migration Governance and Migrant Journeys. Sociology 52 (3): 497–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno-Lax, V. 2018. The EU Humanitarian Border and the Securitization of Human Rights: The ‘Rescue-Through-Interdiction/Rescue-Without-Protection’ Paradigm. Journal of Common Market Studies 56 (1): 119–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberleitner, G., and S. Salomon. 2017. Whose Security? Introductory Remarks on People-on-the-move and the Reclaiming of Security. In Blurring Boundaries: Human Security and Forced Migration, ed. S. Salomon, L. Heschl., G. Oberleitner, and W. Benedek, 3–21. Boston, MA: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, T. 2008. Measuring Human Security. In Environmental Change and Human Security, eds. P. H. Liotta, D. Mouat, W. G. Kepner, and J. M. Lancaster, 35–64. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pallister-Wilkins, P. 2015. The Humanitarian Politics of European Border Policing: Frontex and Border Police in Evros. International Political Sociology 9 (1): 53–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pallister-Wilkins, P. 2016. Interrogating the Mediterranean ‘Migration Crisis’. Mediterranean Politics 21 (1): 311–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panebianco, S. 2020. The EU and Migration in the Mediterranean: EU Borders’ Control by Proxy. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Online First: 1-20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panebianco, S. 2021. Human Security at the Mediterranean Borders: Humanitarian Discourse in the EU Periphery. International Politics. Online First: 1-21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panebianco, S., and I. Fontana. 2018. When Responsibility to Protect ‘Hits Home’: The Refugee Crisis and the EU Response. Third World Quarterly 39 (1): 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasche, L. 2019. The EU’s Relocation Puzzle: Exploring Ways Out of the Solidarity Impasse. Hertie-School of Governance, Policy-Paper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rochefort, D., and W. R. Cobb. 1994. The Politics of Problem Definition: Shaping the Policy Agenda. Lawrence: Kansas University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salt, J. 2000. Trafficking and Smuggling: A European Perspective. International Migration 38 (3): 31–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, A., and H. Ingram. 1990. Behavioral Assumptions of Policy Tools. The Journal of Politics 52 (2): 510–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tallis, B. 2021. Operationalising the Borderscape: Making Sense of Proliferating (In)Securities and (Im)Mobilities. International Politics. Online First: 1-18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tazzioli, M. and G. Garelli. 2020. Containment Beyond Detention: The Hotspot System and Disrupted Migration Movements across Europe. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 38 (6): 1009–1027.

    Google Scholar 

  • Triandafyllidou, A. 2017. Beyond Irregular Migration Governance: Zooming in on Migrants’ Agency. European Journal of Migration and Law 19: 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNHCR. 2019. Desperate Journeys. January–December 2018.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNHCR. 2020. Statement on the Situation at the Turkey-EU Border, 02/03.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNDP. 1994. Human Development Report. Oxford: UNDP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan Williams, N., and M. Pisani. 2020. Migrating Borders, Bordering Lives: Everyday Geographies of Ontological Security and Insecurity in Malta. Social and Cultural Geography 21 (5): 651–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, W. 2018. Lives in Transit. Oakland: California University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, L., and S. Pickering. 2011. Globalization and Borders: Death at the Global Frontier. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

    Iole Fontana

Authors
  1. Iole Fontana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Iole Fontana .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

    Stefania Panebianco

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Fontana, I. (2022). The EU and the Politics of Migration in the Mediterranean: From Crisis Management to Management in Crisis. In: Panebianco, S. (eds) Border Crises and Human Mobility in the Mediterranean Global South. Critical Security Studies in the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90295-7_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation