Peripheralised in the Periphery: Migration, Deportation, and Detainment in Ireland and Spain

Abstract

The chapter – through an examination of detention and deportation in Ireland and Spain during the years 2014 and 2015 – considers the persistent marginalisation of individuals of African descent migrating to seek asylum. Arguing that the two nations’ historically peripheralised positions and negative racialisation in the context of Europe underline their tensions within the Eurozone and approach to migration, the chapter addresses the questions of racism and national identity that forestall the inclusion of people racialised as Black. Ultimately, the chapter asserts that Ireland and Spain – both chafing at human rights protocols – utilise deportation and detention of migrants of African descent to secure racialised Whiteness, maintain economic viability in the European Union, and shed a peripheral European status.