ABSTRACT
The importance of the issues of asylum and migration has not been confined to heated electoral debates and rhetoric. J. Huysmans has explored the consequences of constructing migrants as security problems and has notably warned against the increased risk of violence between migrants and indigenous populations. Pro-migrant groups have also resorted to security rhetoric as some of them have accused European States of launching ‘a war on migrants’ or ‘a war on refugees’. The idea of the European Union securitizing asylum and migration also seems at odds with the trend towards the ‘judicialisation’ and consolidation of migrant rights in liberal-democratic states that has been described by several scholars. The literature has been that asylum and migration – which have generally been bundled together in most analyses, although they are actually two distinct policy issues – have been successfully securitized in Europe. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
