Migration Management Between Humanitarian and Securitarian Narratives

The paper examines the (apparently) contradictory relationship between the two dominant narratives of the European migration and border regime: the securitarian and the humanitarian. Security concerns have accompanied the whole process of EU-ization of migration and border policies since its early stage. Until the turn of the century, dominant discourses were aimed at framing migration mainly – if not only – in security terms. In the last decade, however, the humanitarian rhetoric has gained momentum. The paper asks the question whether the growing importance of humanitarianism should be considered only as a governmental tactic aiming at reinforcing the border, and whether the role of humanitarianism should be considered as ancillary to that of securitarianism. The paper argues that there is no actual contradiction between the two narratives: security concerns should not be understood as simply aiming at making borders more impermeable, and humanitarian at making them more porous. Instead, both narratives support each other in establishing the new hegemonic discourse of migration management. The paper also formulates the hypothesis that the rise of the humanitarian rhetoric coincides with the transition from the paradigm of migration control to that of migration management. Finally, the paper seeks to make a contribution for a research agenda. While securitization has been one of the key issues in the scholarship on the EU migration and border regime, the role of humanitarianization remains largely underresearched. Therefore, the paper suggests possible perspectives from which to look at the issue of humanitarianism and migration management.