Border Externalizations within the European Union and the Accessibility to Seek Asylum - Framing Security within the European Asylum System

Abstract: The objective of the thesis was to examine howtheEU’snew approach to migration, namely externalizing border controlsinto third countries, fit into the European Union’sasylum framework. Furthermore, what has been analysed is how this process of externalizing borders has changed the opportunities for migrantsto access the asylum procedure. The research question was: How does externalizing the outer borders of the EU fit into the European asylum system and how does this affectthe accessibility to seek asylum? The data consisted of five legal documents, all concerning the asylum procedure and all referred to as important documents to the overall project of asylum within the EU. The data was analysed from a qualitative content analysis where an inductive approach was used in order toestablishthree major themes, which later constituted the basis of the findings.The findings were analysed in the context of a framing as a means to securitizetheory where the result that emerged from the data was that the EU mainly uses territorial laws on extraterritorial measures. This has proven not to fit into the European asylum system, since it is not extensive enough to deal with the new approach undertaken. The laws usea languageonly emphasising territorial opportunitiesat the same timeas these territorial opportunities are made more difficult to access.