Securitisation of Borders and the UN's Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

Abstract

This working paper examines the issue of security, securitisation of borders, and migration control, in the context of the UN’s negotiations towards a Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration called for in the UN General Assembly’s New York Declaration (NYD) of 19 September 2016. We consider three main questions: 1) What is the relationship between border control and national security? 2) How does return at borders in a securitised policy field relate to the notion of safe, orderly and regular migration? 3) How does securitisation entrench differentiations between human rights subjects? We argue that it is neither necessary nor desirable, when considering both policy and human rights interests, for security to be the lens with which States view border control. Drawing upon historical and current examples of approaches to the movement of people across international borders, we contend that safe, orderly and regular migration is jeopardised by securitisation. If the international community really wishes to institute a system of safe, orderly and regular migration then immigration control and border control must be disaggregated.

Keywords: UN Global Compact, Migration, Securitisation, Control, Borders, Human Rights