Between Refugees’ Rights and State’s Interests: Securitization of Migration in Greece during the Refugee ‘Crisis’ in Europe

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the ongoing refugee ‘crisis’ in the EU, arguing that the EU’s approach towards the refugee issue largely speaks for the establishment of a new phase of migration in Europe. As opposed to the previous phase in the aftermath of the Cold War where a common European refugee policy was evident, today, each of the Union’s member-states seems to emphasize on its own migration policy in order to protect its national interests and security. Such trend therefore indicates the influence of securitization of migration on the migration policymaking. Under the prism of securitization, the purpose of the thesis is studied via the example of Greece, and in particular how the Greek state (in cooperation with the EU) regulates the refugee arrivals in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Combining the methods of case-study and speech-act theory discourse analysis, this research attempts to answer the following two research questions: (1) How does Greece (in communication with the EU) regulate the refugee arrivals and (2) whether securitization of migration by Greece complies with human rights standards, specifically with the principle of non-refoulement as enshrined in the 1951 Geneva Convention. The thesis’ results illustrate that the Greek migration policy has entered a securitization trajectory and this generates a profound negative impact onto human rights. Thus, eventually, the study engages into presenting an alternative, more humanitarian management of the refugee matter.