Migration and Security Policy: African and EU Perspectives

Date: 12 October 2021 from 3.00pm-4.15pm (UTC+2), followed by discussions in small groups from 4:15-5:00pm (UTC+2).
Venue: Online Event (Zoom): No registration necessary. To join the plenary session, please click here and enter the password: 119411

In an open plenary session, which is jointly organized by the Centre for Global Migration Studies (CeMig) and the German Development Institute (DIE) as part of the 17th Annual Workshop of the Households in Conflict Network: "Conflict, Migration, and Displacement" hosted by the University of Göttingen, Jana Kuhnt (DIE) will discuss “Migration and Security Policy” with:

Ruben Andersson (Oxford University)
Mercy Fekadu (Institute for Peace and Security Studies)
Michael Owiso (Maseno University)
Camille le Coz (Migration Policy Institute).


Abstract:
As governments worldwide associate the uncontrolled movement of refugees, migrants and displaced people as a threat to their nation’s sovereignty and security, migration and refugee politics are becoming increasingly securitized, emphasizing the need to protect the nation’s borders and to curb migration flows.
More inclusive refugee policies that foster refugee integration and freedom of movement seem to conflict with greater control. Security actors worry about the limits to oversee refugees’ activities in a setting without encampment policies and with further integration into national systems. However, refugees, migrants, and internally displaced people can also improve state stability by strengthening the economy, military, diplomatic standing, and civic values.
This plenary session aims at critically discussing the complex interplay between migration and security in various African countries. Taking differential perspectives on this matter, the four speakers will shed light on how Afro-European relations in migration control, national security governance and international refugee policies interact.



The plenary session is part of the 17th Annual Workshop of the Households in Conflict Network: "Conflict, Migration, and Displacement". Please find the conference program here. To join other sessions of this year’s HiCN workshop please, you may register here.