Brussels Workshop on Irregular Migration & External Border Security in Europe & Beyond

Brussels, Belgium | November 14, 2017

This workshop was the second in a Jean Monnet Network grant shared across four institutions in Canada, France, Japan and Turkey that examined how answers to the migration crisis are shaping Europe’s borders, migration and related security policies in exemplary manners and should be studied in comparative perspective and context. Activities were aimed at engaging graduate students, young researchers and professors at each partner institution along with the policy makers in each community. The Network, Comparing and Contrasting EU Border and Migration Policy – Are They Exemplary?, hosted the first workshop in Strasbourg in May 2017 and was organized by Birte Wassenberg at the University of Strasbourg. The third workshop was be organized by Dr. Ted Boyle at Kyushu University with Hokkaido University in April 2018.

The Brussels workshop convened scholars and policy-makers to examine the external borders of Europe. This workshop was organized by Dr. Can Mutlu (Acadia University, Canada; formerly Bilkent University, Turkey)

Program

The Brussels workshop featured a Welcome and Introduction from Can E. Mutlu (Acadia University, Canada) and Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly (University of Victoria, Canada) and several panels:

The Panel on EU External Border Security and Migration Management featured Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly (University of Victoria) as Chair and Discussant, along with panelists: Phillipe Mamadou-Frowd (University of York, UK) who spoke on Security intervention in Niger: what does the ‘transit state’ label do?; Julien Jeandesboz (Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) who spoke on EU border control and data processing: from the politics of crisis to the politics of means; and Ali Bilgic (Loughborough University, UK) who spoke on The Militarization of the Mediterranean Sea and the Creation of Super-Frontex in relation to Human Security of Irregular Migrants.

The Panel on the Aegean and Mediterranean Crossings and Beyond featured Ted Boyle (Kyushu University) as Chair and Catherine Delcroix (University of Strasbourg) as Discussant, along with panelists: Polly Pallister-Wilkins (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands), who spoke on Im/mobility and the making of a humanitarian borderscape; and Debbie Lisle (Queen’s University in Belfast, UK) who spoke on Crisis Hospitality: Migrant Routes and Tourist Infrastructures.

The Panel on Turkey and the Refugee Crisis featured Can Mutlu (Acadia University) as Chair and Oliver Schmidtke (University of Victoria) as Discussant, along with panelists: Beste Isleyen (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) who spoke on Discursive Battles in Turkey over Border and Migration Management; Saime Ozcurumez (Bilkent University, Turkey) who spoke on International Protection and Socio-economic integration Nexus: Polices and Politics in Turkey; and Shoshana Fine (CERI, Science-Po, France) who spoke on Security, resettlement and refugee (un)becoming in Turkey.

The workshop finished with the Roundtable with Practitioners and Academics, was moderated by Birte Wassenberg (University of Strasbourg) and featured speakers Filippo Terruso (European Committee of the Regions), Oliver Schmidtke (University of Victoria), Can E. Mutlu (Acadia University).

Brussels Workshop on Irregular Migration & External Border Security in Europe & Beyond