Challenges and Proposed Alternatives for EU Policy in Managing Migration from its Southern Borders.

The aftermath of the Arab Spring revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, and the ongoing instability in the southern Mediterranean region, have caused an unprecedented wave of irregular migration towards southern EU borders. The exponential increase of irregular migration, especially by smuggling boats, through the Mediterranean Sea, has led to growing numbers of deaths and human rights violations of migrants. The EU’s current migration and mobility policy towards the southern Mediterranean region is widely focused on the paradigm of securitising border control, and the externalisation of its management to the EU’s periphery member states, and to third countries. This policy frame has not succeeded in producing sustainable solutions for migratory management on the EU’s southern borders, and has been detrimental to the protection of human rights. While EU leaders are looking for solutions to decrease the pressure of migratory management experienced by its southern members, and to sway irregular migration in general, the Eurosceptic and anti-migratory political climate that prevails in many parts of the EU has made any decisions regarding migration controversial. This article will analyse the current paradigms of EU policy towards migration from the southern Mediterranean region, and discuss the alternatives and necessary adjustments that could be made to alleviate the situation.