A commodity for export? The implementation of the Triple Nexus by the National Societies of the Red Cross in national migration affairs

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is the potential implementation of the Triple Nexus by the Red Cross National Societies in Europe. In an innovative approach, it looks at three different local branches of the Red Cross as the main subject of focus. This choice was dictated by the fact that these are considered both the emergency actor for crises happening in Europe and the humanitarian organisation. Considering the scarcity of previous scholarly work on the topic, the author has engaged in data generation through interviews with six Red Cross representatives, two per case study, one working nationally and one internationally. The thesis then conducts a comparative study to create generalisable findings from this data. By using normative coherence for human rights as its theoretical framework and looking at both the national and international level of each National Society, the research leading the following academic piece aims at uncovering whether the Triple Nexus is used as a tool to cope with the migration crisis on European soil, or whether the latter is used solely as a commodity for export, something to apply only abroad. In doing so, it not only helps fill the lack of academic sources looking at the putting in practice of the Triple Nexus, but it also uncovers the normative implications of a potential divide between the national and international domains.