Border Imperialism in Times of “Migration Crisis”: A Case Study

In the summer of 2023, the renewed "migration crisis" in the Mediterranean reignited questions about the efficacy and purpose of European migration policies, increasingly reliant on border externalization. In the past thirty years, the EU has implemented a border externalization strategy prioritizing security narratives that tend to overlook the negative impacts of border externalization on communities. Drawing on the concept of Border Imperialism, this research analyzes border externalization with a decolonial lens, exploring its implications and assessing whether European migration border management practices can be considered imperialist using Tunisia as a case study. Through an interdisciplinary approach, this thesis employs a qualitative instrumental case study methodology, framing the Tunisian case within the Border Imperialism Framework through a pattern marching technique. The outcomes reveal that border externalization in Tunisia has led to securitization and militarization, with historical continuities tracing back to the colonial period. Borders in Tunisia have functioned as tools for economic control and sovereignty maintenance while restricting the mobility of individuals. The results highlight the enduring legacies of imperialism, colonialism, and capitalist exploitation in contemporary migration governance and offer a perspective to consider alternative approaches to the migration phenomenon.