Securitization of Migration in Greece: Process, Motives, and Implications

Abstract

The field of security is largely controlled by elites who, by virtue of their authority, are able to create an image of an enemy which is largely independent of the objective significance of a threat. However, a narrow focus on speech acts and discourse analysis to study such processes of securitization is inherently inadequate. This article provides a panoramic account of Greek migration politics during the 1990s. It shows that securitization can be discursive or nondiscursive, pre‐mediated or subconscious, and beneficial or detrimental for securitizing actors. Elite interviews and an in‐depth analysis of contextual factors help make sense of these dynamics.

Punitive inclusion: The political economy of irregular migration in the margins of Europe

“…Nowhere is the constructed nexus between immigration and crime more acute than in the case of irregular migrants, who, before anything else, are ascribed a criminal label by mere dint of their irregular status itself (see further Cheliotis, 2013a, 2013b; also Tzanelli, 2006;Karamanidou, 2007;Karyotis, 2012). A series of important facts are obscured by this discourse: that crime in Greece has remained moderate by European standards; that Greeks are still responsible for the bulk of offences committed, and that their participation has in recent years grown substantially in the case of certain key property and violent offences (e.g., thefts, burglaries, robberies, homicides); and that there are strong antiforeigner biases in police practices and judicial decision-making processes, which inflate the proportional share of immigrants in crime and prison statistics (see further Papandreou, 2009;Xenakis, 2010, 2011;Xenakis and Cheliotis, 2013b).…”

Historical Experiences of Migration in Political Discourse in Greece: Using Critical Discourse Analysis to Explore Policy Legitimation

“…While migrants, especially for Balkan and Eastern European countries, provided flexible, cheap, and easily exploited labor that served the needs of the Greek economy in the 1990s and 2000s, migration itself was associated with criminality and illegality (Triandafyllidou & Maroukis, 2012). Unauthorized migration flows into Greece in particular were constructed as threats to the cultural identity and security of the country (Karyotis, 2012;Triandafyllidou & Maroukis, 2012), in parallel with an emphasis on preventing migration flows in the context of EU migration policies. In addition, the Greek citizenship regime is underpinned by a conception of national identity based on shared culture and common descent remained largely exclusionary toward migrants.…”

QuiBono?

“…Securitisation occurs when actors, speaking or acting in the name of a referent object, succeed in convincing an empowering audience that the perceived seriousness of a threat, regardless of its objective significance, justifies the mobilisation of all available resources to curtail its development. While conceptual ambiguities 13 Karyotis (2012). 14 Lavenex (2001).…”

“…120 Guiraudon (2000). 121 See Karyotis (2012). 122 Ekathimerini (2012). operations had taken place throughout the 1990s in pre-election periods.…”