Restrictive migration strategies: a study of externalization taxonomy of policies and impacts on protection seekers and analysis of the Italy-Albania agreement

Abstract

In recent years, the externalization of migration management has become an increasingly common practice among Global North states seeking to manage migration flows by relocating aspects of their responsibility for processing asylum claims beyond their territory. Despite its growing relevance, there is no consensus definition of the term. Moreover, the concept is primarily discussed in academic literature, the media, reports by non-governmental organizations, and some international organizations. It is notably absent from governmental discourse and is not formally recognized in either international or domestic legislation, making the phenomenon particularly difficult to define and study. This thesis addresses this conceptual gap by reviewing the existing literature on externalization with the aim of developing a comprehensive and operational definition of the concept. It then assesses whether Italy’s recent attempts to carry out asylum procedures in Albania constitutes or not a form of externalization, by applying the proposed framework to the Italy–Albania Agreement signed in 2023 to determine if it can be classified as an externalization measure. The findings of this research are twofold. First, the study develops a comprehensive and practical framework for conceptualizing migration externalization. Second, the analysis demonstrates that the Italy–Albania Agreement can indeed be classified as a form of externalization, although it represents a novel variation of the concept. Two distinctive features characterize this model: the instrumentalization of the Safe Country of Origin concept as a filtering and non-entry mechanism, and the reliance on an ambiguous legal framework that weakens procedural safeguards and creates conditions that may ultimately jeopardize substantive rights, including the right to seek asylum. Key words: Externalization, legal responsibility, asylum processing, Italy-Albania Agreement, safe country of origin, procedural rights.