ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impact of the European Union’s (EU) external borders policy on its policy towards asylum-seekers and refugees. It shows how irregular migration became securitized in the EU. The chapter deals with explaining how the ‘migration crisis’ unfolded at the EU southern borders, first in enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and later on the Canary Islands. It analyses whether irregular migration was securitized on the occasion, considering the possibility of both securitization through speech acts and securitization through practices, as well as the impact that this had on asylum-seekers and refugees. The securitization of given issue in a policy venue may lead to the securitization of another issue in an adjacent policy venue through association. The chapter explores the ‘migration crisis’ that developed at the southern borders of Spain in 2005–2006. It describes whether the flows of unauthorised migrants into Spain were securitized through speech acts that are, rhetorically constructed as an existential threat at the EU level.
