Securitization practices in German migration law and policy. The impact on Iraqi Yazidis and Russian nationals communities

Abstract

This research thesis analyses the process of securitization of migration in Germany, whether it operates uniformly across the groups it affects, or whether it is implemented in different mechanisms and has then different consequences, depending on the community involved. Drawing on securitization theory, the study puts Germany’s migration governance inside the legal framework of the European Union and of International Human Rights Law, before introducing two original case studies: citizens of the Russian Federation residing in Munich, subject to mandatory security interviews since 2025, and the Iraqi Yazidis, whose 2014 genocide formally recognised by Germany in 2023, and yet continue to face incumbent threats of deportations. Combining semi-structured interviews, original anonymous surveys and analysis of primary legal sources and secondary academic literature, the research finds that the two communities experience securitization through different logics: for Russian nationals is a preventive, administrative one, while for Yazidis it occurs through the enforcement measure of deportations and through the bureaucratic process of protection withdrawal, occurring despite the state’s own public humanitarian recognition of the genocide. These findings suggest that securitization practices in Germany are not a single, unified set of measures, but distinct administrative and enforcement logics, with implementation effects that often vary, depending on a community’s legal status, their political position at the international level and how that community is discussed publicly in Germany. Finally, the research concludes with some practical recommendations concerning procedural transparency, judicial safeguards and consistent humanitarian protection, and acknowledging the limitations of its small-sample empirical design and suggestions for future research in this domain.