Date of Graduation
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
International and Global Studies
Advisor/Mentor
Phillips, Jared
Committee Member
Hare, Laurence
Second Committee Member
Davidson, Fiona
Third Committee Member
Clay, Matt
Abstract
The growing concern over migration to the European Union (EU) through the Mediterranean, particularly since 2015, has led the EU to develop strategies that externalize migration control to third countries, shifting the responsibility for migrants. While externalization policies help the EU reduce migration, putting the care for migrants in the hands of third countries that often are not equipped to help them can lead to human rights abuses and poor conditions for migrants. The EU has adopted these policies in order to avoid their responsibilities to migrants, who gain many rights once entering EU territory; however, these policies actually put themselves at risk of being inundated by floods of migrants due to coercive migration. EU externalization policies enable third countries to manipulate migrants within their territory to cross the EU border in mass movements in order to coerce the EU into supporting their foreign policy goals.
Both externalization measures and the use of coercive engineered migration can be detrimental to diplomatic relations, but they also have the effect of violating the human rights of migrants, particularly the right to asylum and the right to freedom from cruel and inhumane treatment or punishment. With the number of migrants expected to increase in the future, it is possible that even more migrants will attempt to enter the EU and face violations of their rights. The EU must be proactive in developing new migration strategies to reduce its dependence on externalization and prevent the use of coercive engineered migration in order to prioritize and protect the rights of migrants.
Keywords
European Union; migration; human rights; Morocco; migration externalization; coercive engineered migration
Citation
Quinn, A. (2023). From Migration Externalization to Coercive Engineered Migration: Effects of the European Union's Migration Policies on the Human Rights of Migrants. International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/ingsuht/16
