A Critical Analysis of the European Union (EU) Securitization of African Migration as Societal Insecurity

Abstract

This paper focuses on the version of EU constructed interrelation between migration and security whereby African migration (regular and mostly irregular) is perceived threatening to the European civilization and national security with the need for extraordinary measures to address it. This delineates how African migration to Europe becomes securitized and the basic tenets of the securitization substantiate how it has been one-sidedly portrayed. The EU securitization approach towards African migration and its counterproductive outcomes have attracted the attention of this research. This approach is criticized to have created a distorted stereotypical image about African migrants generally while it has failed to prioritize and address the different socio-economic and political conditions fueling irregular migration from the continent. This research has relied on secondary sources and employs a qualitative research method, which reviews current literature on the topic under study. It aims to critically analyze the EU securitization of African migration as societal insecurity with the use of Copenhagen School of Security Study (CSS) conceptualization of securitization and societal security as structural and theoretical framework of the study. CSS elucidates the possibility of transferring a non-political issue or event into the field of security through a speech act, which is known as securitization, and international migration is one of the common focus areas of securitization theory. This research keys on deconstructing the general perception of African migrants as existential threats to the European society compelling xenophobia and societal security issues, necessitating various strict migration policies adopted against African migrants.