International Law and European Migration Policy: Where Is the Terrorism Risk?

Didier Bigo and Elspeth Guild
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Didier Bigo: Sociology/Sciences Po Paris, 75007 Paris, France
Elspeth Guild: Law, Queen Mary, University of London, London WC1E 7HU, UK

Laws, 2019, vol. 8, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: This article examines how international law in form of treaties deals with the intersection of the three concepts. Our hypothesis is that international law, in the form of treaties, has been reluctant to engage with national security when dealing with migration, leaving this to national law. Instead, the intersection of national security—most commonly in the form of concerns about terrorism and migration—takes place in political discourse, which acts as a passerelle for various types of state violence against people classified or suspected of being migrants. We examine this mechanism that we call an insecurity continuum driven by the politics of fear in a European context. This is a politics that takes place outside of international law but has the effect of limiting access by individuals to international law protections, particularly in the case of people who claim international protection against persecution or torture.

Keywords: international law; migration; terrorism; national security; (in)security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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