We are pleased to invite you to attend the public PhD defence of BIRMM-member Omar N. Cham on the topic 'Understanding Narratives on EU Migration Control Policies in West Africa: The Case of The Gambia'. This event will take place on Tuesday June 11th at 14:00 (CET) and can be attended either in-person or virtually. Click here for registration.
Abstract:
In recent decades, the European Union (EU) and its member states have intensified efforts to control migration beyond its borders by strengthening cooperation with third countries, particularly countries of migrant origin and transit. These cooperations primarily focus on ensuring the return of irregularised migrants and failed asylum seekers to their countries of origin and on discouraging irregular migration to Europe through migration information campaigns. Despite the growing interest from the EU and member states in controlling migration beyond their borders, little is known about how the recipients of such migration control policies respond to the EU and member states demands. The central objective of this thesis is to demonstrate how two key aspects of the EU and member states engagement on migration control in the Gambia—namely, return cooperation and migration information campaigns—influence the responses of (a) political elite actors through the politicisation of migration and (b) potential migrants through migratory decision-making.
To analyse the responses of political elite actors and ordinary Gambian citizens towards EU and member states migration control efforts, this thesis relies on the already existing concepts of ‘elite’ and ‘vernacular’ narratives, previously used by Nick Vaughan-Williams (2021), to demonstrate how ordinary citizens and elite actors responded to the 2015 European migrant crisis.
The thesis presents several findings and contributions by relying on a press analysis, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions with political actors and ordinary citizens. First, this thesis provides valuable empirical, conceptual, and theoretical insights into how political elite actors in the Gambia respond to EU demands for cooperation on the deportation of irregularised Gambian migrants in Europe, across two types of regimes. This thesis empirically demonstrates the increasing salience and politicisation of migration, as well as diverse policy positions and diversifying actors in response to the EU and member states’ demands for cooperation on deportation. Conceptually, the thesis introduces identity-related ‘neo-colonial’ and ‘neo-compliance’ justification frames deployed by Gambian political actors to justify their policy positions on cooperation on deportation. Theoretically, through the analysis of political responses to the EU demands, a typology of justification frames is built, which can serve as a tool to analyse how other third countries subjected to EU demands on cooperation on deportation respond.
Regarding responses of ordinary Gambian citizens (potential migrants), the thesis reveals a wide contestation among potential migrants of the negative deterrence narratives presented by the EU in information campaigns, in favour of more local positive narratives on migration and Europe. While dangers of the migration route are acknowledged, they do not significantly influence behaviour compared to factors such as economic opportunities and familial considerations. Notably, predestination thinking influences migration decisions, impacting risk evaluation and familial support.
Overall, the thesis contributes to migration politics and policy literature by highlighting the intermestic nature of migration policymaking in a Global South context. It underscores the challenge faced by political actors in balancing domestic legitimacy with external demands from the EU. Additionally, insights into ordinary citizens’ migration narratives and decision-making enrich migration sociology literature, while broadening debates on the agency of third-country actors in relation to the EU's migration externalisation agenda.
