The Role of International Law in the Maritime Migration Security Assemblage: EU Activity in the Lampedusa Triangle

Abstract

This paper concerns itself with the configuration of security at sea, arguing that its implementation is not solely within the security actor’s control. Rather, maritime security configurations are constructed as a result of intended and unintended actions and implications, melding security and insecurity together as a singular sphere of activity. Narrowing in on the specific case of migration governance, this paper investigates the role of international legal obligations and limitations for security actors at sea in understanding the operationalisation of maritime migration security. Questions of the construction of maritime security configurations are considered with reference to boarding and searching of vessels, search and rescue (SAR) and access to territorial waters, perceived through the practice based assemblage approach. It is proposed that assemblage theory is suited to accessing complex relationships between security and international law. Attending to Central Mediterranean migration governance, this paper reflects a reading of international law that resulted in a stagnation of security on the high seas. The convictions of this paper are three-fold. Firstly and primarily, the implementation of a maritime security initiative is not solely within the control of the securitising actor. Secondly, maritime security configurations are malleable, and shaped by unplanned elements, including international legal obligations and instruments. Finally, maritime security is an assemblage, constructed as a result of intentional and unintentional independent elements which form relationships and result in a unique security configuration. The findings demonstrate that international law forms an important aspect of maritime migration security configurations or assemblages, and significantly shapes such operations.