External Migration Governance after the Arab Uprisings: Changing the Path?

The proposed paper focuses on the impact of the Arab uprisings on the external migration governance of the European Union and its member states. Immigration has been a strategic priority of the external relations in the Mediterranean since the 1990s, and has increased in importance ever since. Scholars analysing the dynamics of these relations have pointed out, that past cooperation between the EU and its member states with the EU’s southern neighbours exhibited several weaknesses. Most notably, Europe’s extra-territorialization of border control has been viewed as stabilizing authoritarian regimes in the region, since it provided the latter with an opportunity to facilitate repression domestically and to increase their legitimacy internationally.

The recent revolts in the Arab world and their impact on the region have opened up the opportunity to rethink Europe’s approach, considering new challenges, as well as addressing the problems of the past. This paper asks whether this opportunity has actually been used. The question it focuses on is, whether as a result of the transformations in the region perceptions and understandings of international migration have changed, and if so, to what extents these new perceptions have had an impact on the external governance of migration in the Mediterranean.

Findings presented in this paper draw from original primary research undertaken as part of an ERC-funded project, “Prospects for International Migration Governance.