How the EU deals with regulating migration at its borders has been the subject of heated discussions for years. Headlines accentuating the dangers of immigration are ever-present. It is thus...Show moreHow the EU deals with regulating migration at its borders has been the subject of heated discussions for years. Headlines accentuating the dangers of immigration are ever-present. It is thus crucial to critically analyse these discourses’ origins, present features, and potential future consequences. This paper wants to investigate what securitisation of migration in the EU looks like in connection to the 2015 “refugee crisis”, and what consequences and compromises it led to, especially in terms of “formal informality”. Analysing EU-Libya relations, this thesis finds that a shift towards more securitised discourse starting from 2015 impacted informal measures, specifically through bilateral agreements such as the Italy-Libya Memorandum of 2017. Given recent backlash for the EU's management of external migration, and reports of mistreatments and abuses in migrant detention camps, this thesis aims at showing the importance of critically analysing discourse by EU institutions, in order to keep them accountable and prevent further rights violations.Show less
