The Momentum of Contestation — Airports as Borderlands on the Inside

Abstract

The quote spotlights the particular tension that constitutes one of the most dynamic elements of bordering processes. It suggests that state authority should be fair. In order to prevent unwanted acts, however, state authority rationale may see a breach of the rule asserted in the quote as advantageous. ‘Not being fair’ can be a deliberate strategy to ‘manage’ migration risk assessment as Weber and Pickering show in the case of Australia and Klepp with regards to Search and Rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea (both in this volume). European migration policy draws on such a strategy and implements a policy of deterrence at its borders via military force, the police and the administration. Its dynamic element derives from its concurrent pursuit of a strategy of being fair. European regulations state their commitment to international law and human rights standards for refugees in order to restore, sustain and enhance European Union (EU) legitimacy as an imagined ‘civilian community’. Migration policy gains its momentum from this inherent discursive ambiguity, which gives room for contestation and the struggle between different discourse coalitions. These coalitions focus on either deterrence or human rights issues and are equipped with asymmetric resources and capacities. This chapter elaborates on the construction of border space and the struggle it entails, and focuses on airports as a specific type of border. These are understood as borderlands on the inside.

States have a legitimate right to control their borders and manage the entry of foreigners, but methods employed to prevent unauthorised entry of migrants must allow for those seeking protection to be identified so they can claim asylum. Safeguards must be employed to ensure that asylum seekers are not returned to any country without having their claim examined within a fair process first.

(Hungarian Helsinki Committee, 2008: 7)