Bringing Solidarity and Hostility to EU borders: The Calais Camps at the Heart of French-UK Securitization of Immigration Process

peer reviewed ; In the last decade immigration became a major issue in public debates across the European Union (EU). The EU focussed on the securitization of immigration, placing it in the centre of the integration process; which was further connected with the construction of an internal space of security for Europeans, while reifying the social boundaries that exclude non-Europeans. Additionally, EU members developed a restrictive and defensive immigration policy to keep the unasked-for immigrant on the outer side the EU borders. The present paper starts from the assumption that the securitization of immigration is an approach employed to deal with people’s movement, as well as to legitimize exclusion and justify the increasing vulnerability of migrants. It also contends that immigrants’ camps represent a part of the security apparatus: they separate migrants from the rest of the society and, thus, prevent integration. Thus, this paper observes the securitization dynamics in the border area between France and the United Kingdom, analysing its impact in the city of Calais. Since closing the hangar of Sangatte, France and the UK uphold a ‘security logic’ that exteriorizes the UK borders to Calais, while interiorizing French boundaries through the construction of camps and perpetuating the migrant’s exclusion. ; A EUROPEAN CRISIS Perspectives on Refugees, Solidarity, and Europe/ Timofey Agarin, Nevena Nancheva (eds.)