The Securitization of Humanitarian Migration: Digging Moats and Sinking Boats. By Scott D. Watson.

Extract

Academic writing on security and migration has flourished in recent years, particularly in the wake of September 11. Indeed, the putative securitization of migration has so come to dominate academic critical writings on migration that some scholars have begun to roll back the tide by questioning whether recent state policies are as securitized as often stated. Into this literature steps Scott Watson, whose book, The Securitization of Humanitarian Migration, is accompanied by the (unintentionally?) light-hearted subtitle, ‘Digging Moats and Sinking Boats’. His book aims to offer insights into the development of restrictionist policies on asylum seekers and refugees (broadly conceived) in recent years through an analysis of the changing securitization of what he dubs ‘humanitarian migration’. This is a book that is likely to get lost in the crowd of recent writings on security and migration, but it has some worthwhile things to say, both to those interested in the trajectory of recent refugee policies and those concerned with the evolution of norms in the international system.