Navigating through restrictions. The evolution of civil society in the Aegean Sea migration governance

Abstract

Since 2015, the European Union and the Greek state have undergone a significant change regarding the maritime migration governance towards an increasingly securitised approach. This shift has had a crucial impact on migrants and refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean. However, civil society organisations do not remain untouched. Restrictive migration policies affect them in a variety of ways. While scholarship has mostly focused on the externalisation policies of the EU, the criminalisation of solidarity and securitisation of irregular migration itself, this thesis investigates the adaptive strategies developed by non-governmental organisation, engaged in migration in response to this evolving trend of restriction of migration. This research examines how restrictive migration policies have reshaped the operational space of NGOs, through the lens of humanitarian securitisation and the Paris school theoretical framework of security. Employing a qualitative research design, this studies’ empirical data derives from nine interviews with NGO personnel, in order to shed light to their experience navigating through a securitised environment. This thesis argues that securitisation’s consequences extend to administrative and bureaucratic restrictions, funding trends, shrinking of humanitarian space and the emergence of insecurity and uncertainty for the organisations. According to this thesis, organisations do not remain static in this shift. On the contrary, this thesis conceptualises organisations as active migration actors with agency, which have developed response mechanisms to combat the restrictions. By delving into the empirical evidence from Greece, this study aims to contribute to the literature on migration governance and civil society, while highlighting how humanitarian space has been gradually reshaped. Keywords: migration governance, securitisation, non-governmental organisations, Greece, adaptation, civil society.