Border Control Research Articles

Differentiated Implementation of Controls: The Internal Border Regimes of Schengen

The use of temporary internal border controls in the Schengen Area reached a new record during the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Several member states chose to introduce internal border controls that had not done so up until that point, while others have had continuous border controls in place since the refugee crisis in 2015. Other member states have never or only rarely used this temporary opt-out from the principle of free movement of persons inside Schengen. This development has raised the question of whether we are moving towards the disintegration of the Schengen Area as member states make very different choices regarding controls towards their EU neighbours. Comparing the use of internal border controls by all member states, the article suggests the concept of differentiated implementation to explain the variations in internal border regimes among Schengen member states. Focusing on two dimensions of control, the control of movement originating internally or externally to the EU, a typology is developed that conceptualises differentiated implementation as four types of internal border regimes. The analysis illustrates these four types by applying them to the use of controls up until 2022, identifying the grouping of member states. The proposed typology of internal border regimes presented represents an ambition to conceptualise the differences in internal border control use that have previously often been understood as a general problem of the Schengen regime.

Peran Keimigrasian dalam Menangani Kasus Penyalahgunaan Izin Tinggal oleh Warga Negara Asing

Cases of abuse of residence permits committed by foreign nationals are motivated by very easy access to come and go from Indonesian territory. Cases of abuse of residence permits can have a negative impact on the emergence of security threats such as drug smuggling, terrorism and human trafficking. The Immigration as the gatekeeper for the entry and exit of foreign nationals has a strategic role in preventing and taking action against the practice of abusing residence permits. This research will explain about the role of Immigration, especially the Special Class I Border Control Immigration Office Surabaya in handling abuse of residence permits in the Surabaya area. This case study research uses a qualitative approach with primary data sources from interviews and studies of state documents as well as secondary data from articles and journal. The findings obtained indicate the role of Immigration, especially the Special Class I Border Control Immigration Office Surabaya in terms of prevention through supervision and the establishment of a Foreigner Monitoring Team. Meanwhile, prosecution of violators is carried out through administrative, criminal, detention, and projustia measures.

Policy Entrepreneurs of European Disintegration? The Case of Austrian Asylum Governance After 2015

The re-establishment of border controls in the Schengen Area since 2015 and repeated contestation of the Common European Asylum System have made the policy sector of migration and asylum a topic of growing importance for European (dis)integration research. This article investigates differentiated disintegration and the factors that facilitate member states’ counter-projects to core-EU integration trajectories. Drawing on the concept of policy entrepreneurship and based on an analysis of policy documents, we use the case of Austria to examine how the government coalition, the Austrian People’s Party, and their chairman, Sebastian Kurz, have shaped European governance of asylum and borders in the aftermath of the 2015–2016 crisis. We first show how the Austrian government performed a shift towards bilateralism and multilateralism outside the EU framework by using transnational party alliances. Second, we outline a policy discourse that justified Schengen-internal bordering based on asylum politics, which eventually served to delegitimize Schengen’s enlargement in 2022. The article contributes conceptually to understanding differentiated disintegration in the sector of migration and asylum, and points to potential drivers of this development.

A Paper-Based Biomimetic Sensing Device for the Discrimination of Original and Fraudulent Cigarette Brands Using Mixtures of MoS2 Quantum Dots and Organic Dyes.

In this study, we investigated the combined effects of MoS2 QDs' catalytic properties and the colorimetric responses of organic reagents to create a sniffing device based on the sensor array concept of the mammalian olfactory system. The aim was to differentiate the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in cigarette smoke. The designed optical nose device was utilized for the classification of various cigarette VOCs. Unsupervised Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and supervised Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) methods were employed for data analysis. The LDA analysis showed promising results, with 100% accuracy in both training and cross-validation. To validate the sensor's performance, we assessed its ability to discriminate between five cigarette brands, achieving 100% accuracy in the training set and 82% in the cross-validation set. Additionally, we focused on studying four popular Iranian cigarette brands (Bahman Kootah, Omega, Montana Gold, and Williams), including fraudulent samples. Impressively, the developed sensor array achieved a perfect 100% accuracy in distinguishing these brands and detecting fraud. We further analyzed a total of 126 cigarette samples, including both original and fraudulent ones, using LDA with a matrix size of (126 × 27). The resulting LDA model demonstrated an accuracy of 98%. Our proposed analytical procedure is characterized by its efficiency, affordability, user-friendliness, and reliability. The selectivity exhibited by the developed sensor array positions it as a valuable tool for differentiating between original and counterfeit cigarettes, thus aiding in border control efforts worldwide.

Reinscribing global hierarchies: COVID–19, racial capitalism and the liberal international order

Abstract The COVID–19 pandemic led to debates within International Relations (IR) as to the extent to which it would cause a rupture in the so-called liberal international order (LIO). This article is concerned with why such a rupture did not occur and draws on theories of racial capitalism to answer this question. It explores the political economy of three dynamics of the global response to the pandemic—lockdowns, border controls and vaccine distribution—and argues that rather than causing a rupture, COVID–19 has reinscribed various domestic and global racial hierarchies. The global divisions of labour and hierarchies of expendability that manifested in the unequal burdens of COVID–19; the border policies that both included and excluded based on racialized notions of who carries disease and the necessity of keeping capital in circulation; and the intellectual property regime and profit motives of pharmaceutical companies that led to inequitable vaccine distribution, are all intimately linked with key ideational and material institutions of the LIO. By drawing theories of racial capitalism into the IR literature on global health, the article points to the need for domestic and global health policy to address the deep-rooted racial inequities that characterized the COVID–19 pandemic ahead of future disease outbreaks.

Border control technologies: introduction

ABSTRACT This introduction together with the whole special issue on border technologies challenges the limitations of potentially simplistic understandings of contestation, disputes, and political intervention inherent in many accounts of material politics. How do border technologies turn borders into a contested space and how do they come to matter for specific affected communities, especially migrants? How do border technologies manifest hegemonic border-control regimes and thereby marginalise their contestations? Or else, how do they open up alternative versions of the border? Simplified notions of material publics assume that controversial issues may easily turn public. They are also too narrowly framed within the logics of the nation state, de jure citizenship, and specific political articulations of contestation as legitimate within representative democracies. Therefore, these notions disregard opaque, non-transparent forms of government as they are in place through border control regimes, on the one hand, and other less visible forms of contestation deriving from migrant issues and struggles as non-citizens, on the other hand. Migrants concerned with these issues are already marginalised population groups in the context of border technologies. They potentially struggle to make public issues of concern among a wider audience. The introduction together with the special issue expands the analytical repertoire, first, to understand forms of (im)possibilities of contestations related to border technologies and how they are co-shaped by socio-material and epistemic conditions; and second, to include less visible types of material politics, as contesting articulations may appear differently and remain only partially known to wider publics.

The Value of Information. Mobility and Border Knowledge Battlegrounds in the Ventimiglia Region

ABSTRACT This contribution explores the acquisition, circulation and negotiation of knowledge related to mobility and border crossing among migrants at the French-Italian border of Ventimiglia. Despite governmental deterrence policies and border controls, the pursuit of “secondary movements” seems not to decrease, and is increasingly putting Europe to the test. In this context, the underground knowledge network that exists can be used to circumvent legal and geographical borders and to gain access to forms of citizenship. The “right” information is thus fundamental in determining the level of risk embedded in the various pathways and practices of de-bordering, as well as in constructing specific behaviors and migration carriers. To examine contentious information issues, we have participated in activities supporting the Progetto20k collective, including: Eufemia Info&legal point, an independent solidarity center in Ventimiglia; and the Italian-French Border Guide, a project designed to produce and spread mobility knowledge.

Moving to a Non-Metropolitan Area: The Information Channels of International Migrants Going to the Department of Calvados

ABSTRACT In the context of the development of national dispersion policies in Europe, a growing body of literature has been focusing on small and mid-sized cities as points of arrival for migrants in these specific cases of forced mobility. However, little work has been done on the trajectories of migrants who voluntarily move to apparently unattractive territories. Based on the example of the department of Calvados in Normandy, and drawing on qualitative data, this paper analyses the information practices developed by international migrants that are in a situation of information precarity and who are faced with Europe’s externalized and internalized border control. By looking to the source and nature of elements that were the reason for their decision to move to Calvados, this article sheds light on the types of information and actors that shape migrants’ itineraries. Furthermore, this article discusses the dynamics of trust and distrust between migrants and their various interlocutors and questions the characteristics of those identified as relevant providers of information. This article highlights the impact of administrative procedures and reception arrangements on migrants’ trajectories, as well as the central, albeit ambivalent, role of transnational social capital in relation to finding the right information in a new territory.

Border control and accident rate of irregular immigration in the route to the Canary Islands (Spain) during the COVID-19 pandemic

Throughout the first decades of the 21st century, the maritime borders of the European Union have witnessed a growing and increasingly complex mobility of an irregular nature. Moreover, the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on many African countries revealed the weakness of the maritime border and its permeability, as well as its increased danger. This research aims to study these irregular migration flows by sea during 2020 and 2021, through the Atlantic border between the Canary Islands and Africa. The so-called “Canary route” is one of the most dangerous maritime routes in the world due to the ocean conditions, the distances that must be covered and the way in which migrants move. Our analysis will therefore focus on one of the central aspects of this crossing, its danger and associated accident rate, which can be measured in terms of the number of shipwrecks, deaths, and missing persons. The objectives of this paper are: i) to show the spatial location of those wrecks; ii) to give an estimate of data on missing persons and deaths; iii) to focus on the study of those persons affected; iv) to delve into the underlying causes; and v) to analyse the border control actions developed during the pandemic. With this aim, information has been compiled from different national and international sources: official records, contrasted data provided by some NGOs and the IOM, and testimonies of the agents involved. This material is used to reflect on the normalization of border control as a factor that inevitably leads to deaths and disappearances. It suggests that this event should be a central element in European migration policy, contributing to designing border control actions that go beyond containment, thereby preventing the loss of human lives.

Fragile Solidarities: Contestation and Ambiguity at European Borderzones

Abstract Borders as legal, social, and material aspaces of inclusion/exclusion constantly spark resistance, by both migrants and solidarity actors. In this article, we combine the dual observation of a proliferation of border control policies and of migrant and solidarity activism to analyse how different types of border control policies affect the forms of resistance that emerge in them. We inquire on three different cases: first the Calais region at the territorial border between France and the UK; second the camps and detention centres for refugees and migrants marking borders within Europe; and third the intimate space of encounters between citizens and migrants during practices of migrant support. In our theory oriented qualitative analysis, we carve out how power relations, and thereby notions of inclusion/exclusion, deservingness and (il)legality play out differently on the ambivalent solidarities unfolding in these settings.

Learning the lessons for public health from the COVID-19 pandemic across British island communities: findings of a peer support group based on action learning.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a major public health challenge for island communities. Consequently, a peer support group was set up across British islands, led by Directors of Public Health, with the aim of using an action research approach to identify and share learning to inform aspects of the management of COVID-19 that were unique to island communities. Qualitative analysis of nine group discussions over 13 months was undertaken. Key themes were identified based on two sets of independent records of the meetings. The findings were shared with representatives of the group and refined on the basis of that feedback. Key learning points were around the importance of border control to minimise the importation of new cases, a rapid coordinated response to clusters of disease when these occurred, close cooperation with organisations that provide transport on and off the island, and effective communication and engagement with both local and visiting populations. A peer support group was effective in providing mutual support and shared learning across quite varied island contexts. There was a sense that this had helped in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitated in maintaining a low prevalence of infection.

The missing piece. The perceived marginalization of CSOs and HRGs in SOSTs' decision-making processes: a review.

This review represents the first contribution of a research diptych which stems from the activities implemented in the framework of the H2020 ARESIBO project (Augmented Reality Enriched Situation awareness for Border security). The general objective of ARESIBO is to improve the efficiency of border surveillance systems by providing the operational teams, as well as the tactical command and control level with accurate and comprehensive information related to border control considering different issues and perspectives. These perspectives also include the analysis of the level of engagement and the (possible) enhancement of citizens' involvement in the development and decision making related to border surveillance. The principal human rights and migration International Organisations (IOs), as well as EU institutions dealing with security and external borders (i.e., Frontex), agree and state that human rights groups (HRGs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) should be more involved and integrated in border surveillance. That stated, the main goal of this paper is to analyse this perceived marginalisation of CSOs and HRGs, as it emerges from several HRGs' and CSOs' statements on that regard in order to explore the reasons of this perceived marginalisation, as well as the elements that on the contrary seem to make this marginalisation less substantial. The results of this non-systematic review in the framework of ARESIBO led to the elaboration of an innovative participatory model that will be analysed in detail in the second article of this research diptych, entitled "Towards the engagement of citizens in SOSTs decision-making: participatory models setting a common ground for border surveillance and respect of fundamental rights. The case of ARESIBO H2020 project".

Colonialism Reiterated: The Racialised Division of Labour in Higher Education and Beyond

This article takes up the invitation to imagine a decolonised performance studies by turning its attention to the legal and material conditions, institutions, and practices on which the work of study rests. Drawing on performance studies’ theorisations of the affixive ‘re,’ we define colonialism’s “reiteration” as an unfinished modulation across time and space, rather than a linear or finite trajectory. Aligned with thinkers who address decolonisation as a specifically material project, we thus argue that any attempt to epistemologically “decolonise” performance studies must first confront the reiterations of colonialism that undergird academic labour today. Specifically, we turn to the racialised division of labour—as it is reinforced globally by migration law and border control—as a key site at which colonial histories continue to shape scholarly practice. Moving between three key sites—Kuwait, Singapore, and the United Kingdom—we argue that higher education should be seen not as a neutral register for skill and qualification, but as an industry with a vested interest in disguising racialised hierarchies of migrant labour. On this basis, we end by proposing an activism that attempts to break with the normative, racialised division of labour among university workers.

A multi-channel soft biometrics framework for seamless border crossings

As the number of passengers at border entry points such as airports and rail stations increases, so does the demand for seamless, secure, and fast biometric technologies for verification purposes. Although fingerprints are currently useful biometric technologies, they are intrusive and slow down the end-to-end verification process, increasing the chances of tampering. Emerging as an alternative technology, soft biometrics have proven successful for non-intrusive and rapid verification. Soft biometrics consists of a large set of features from three different modalities of the human body, including the face, body, and essential & auxiliary attachments. This paper proposes a multi-channel soft biometrics framework that leverages soft biometrics technology over traditional biometrics. The framework encapsulates four distinct components: ApparelNet, which verifies essential and auxiliary attachments; A-Net, which measures anthropometric soft biometrics; OneDetect, which predicts global soft biometrics; and RSFS, which develops a set of highly relevant and supportive soft biometrics for verification. The proposed framework addresses several critical limitations of existing biometrics technologies during the verification process at border entry points, such as intrusive behavior, response time, biometric tampering, and privacy issues. The proposed multi-channel soft biometrics framework has been evaluated using several benchmark datasets in the field, such as Front-view Gait (FVG), Pedestrian Attribute Recognition At Far Distance (PETA), and Multimedia and Vision (MMV) Pedestrian. Using heterogeneous datasets enables the testing of each framework component or channel against numerous constrained and unconstrained scenarios. The outcome of the envisioned multi-channel soft biometrics framework is presented based on distinct outcomes from each channel, but it remains focused on determining a single cumulative verification score for verification at border control. In addition, this multi-channel soft biometrics framework has extended applications in several fields, including crowd surveillance, the fashion industry, and e-learning.

From Iran to the Netherlands, and everywhere in between

AbstractA migrant's journey is no linear trajectory from A to B. It is a fragmented and complex move over different regions with alternating periods of mobility and immobility. This article researches the complex dynamics of irregular migration from Iran to the Netherlands, and everywhere in between. Through a historical comparison of the life stories of Iranian asylum seekers in the Netherlands in two time periods (1988–1989 and 2009–2010), it studies the routes they took, their relations with human smugglers, and their interactions with immigration policies and border managements along the way. It shows migrants' and smugglers’ flexibility and capacity to adapt to ever-changing circumstances. Migration politics and border controls, along with their increasing limitations on legal migration channels, are indeed crucial in the understanding of irregular migration practices and the ever-growing involvement of facilitating services. Through a combination of this migration policy research and the migration trajectory research, the paper explores these dynamics and the interactions between migrants, smugglers, and state policies in every phase of their journey from Iran to the Netherlands, and everywhere in between.

Provisional by design. Frontex data infrastructures and the Europeanization of migration and border control

ABSTRACT Data infrastructures for the Frontex joint operations are often only temporary and thus in need of being built up and removed easily, adjustable to changing constellations of security actors, and adaptable to new situations. They need to work through flaws, gaps, and inconsistencies. Still, they fabricate data used for the re-identification of migrants, police investigations, situational pictures, or risk analysis and lead to the intensification of security practices of Frontex. This is accomplished by data infrastructures that are provisional by design. People and forms are used as provisional gateway to interconnect various installed bases of national police and coast guard authorities, informal communication channels and ‘other’ entry fields proliferate around partially standardized classification systems, and ongoing coordination and repair tame and validate the proliferation of data. With this, the data infrastructure of joint border operations hints to a mode of Europeanization that is neither supranational nor intergovernmental. Instead of centralized administrations or fully integrated information systems, it aims for partial harmonization through interconnecting loosely information systems and institutional ecologies of national and EU agencies alike. This causes issues of accountability and requires an analysis that takes the mundane socio-technical conditions of knowledge production into account.

Security knowledges: circulation, control, and responsible research and innovation in EU border management

ABSTRACT The knowledge emerging from research funded by the European Union (EU) through its Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation and other funding streams is significantly shaped by different forms of epistemic control exerted by the EU itself. Through the promotion of industry-research-policy cooperation in EU-funded research, and in light of the growing importance attached to ‘impact,’ this knowledge will often contribute to bureaucratic decisions taken by the European Commission, Frontex, the EU Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems (eu-LISA), and other agencies tasked with border security and control. The circular dynamics surrounding knowledge production, from the calls for proposals to the results of the research, are intrinsically political and contribute to exposing the limits of the EU-promoted principle of Responsible Research and Innovation. Additionally, and due to the centrality of EU funding in the research outlook in contemporary Europe, these processes raise wider questions about the sociology of the academic fields that this article relates to: critical border studies, critical security studies, and science and technology studies. How can we interpret the interplays between the EU’s policies fostering development and integration of border security technologies, on the one hand, and the Union’s broader principles for free and open research and innovation? Through the use of autoethnographic vignettes, and mediated by an expanded Foucauldian understanding of circulation as a technology of control with performative effects, the article sheds light on the dynamics surrounding knowledge production in the field of border technologies in an EU context.

Postpandemic international tourism restart: effect of border control and vaccination

Purpose As the current Coronavirus 2019 pandemic eases, international tourism, which was greatly affected by the outbreak, is gradually recovering. The attraction of countries to overseas tourists is related to their overall performance in the pandemic. This research integrates the data of vaccination of different countries, border control policy and holidays to explore their differential impacts on the overseas tourists’ intention during the pandemic. This is crucial for destinations to built their tourism resilience. It will also help countries and industry organizations to promote their own destinations to foreign tourism enterprises. Design/methodology/approach This study proposes an analysis based on panel data for ten countries over 1,388 days. The coefficient of variation is used to measure monthly differences of Chinese tourists’ intention to visit overseas country destinations. Findings Results show that, for tourist intention of going abroad: border control of the destination country has a significant negative impact; daily new cases in the destination country have a significant negative impact; domestic daily new cases have a significant positive impact; holidays have significant negative impact; daily vaccination of the destination countries has significant positive impact; and domestic daily vaccination have negative significant impact. Research limitations/implications First, there is a large uncertainty in studying consumers’ willingness to travel abroad in this particular period because of unnecessary travel abroad caused by the control of the epidemic. Second, there are limitations in studying only Chinese tourists, and future research should be geared toward a broader range of research pairs. Practical implications First, from the government perspective, a humane response can earn the respect and trust of tourists. Second, for tourism industry, to encourage the public take vaccine would be beneficial for both the tourism destination and foreign tourism companies. The same effect can be achieved by helping tourists who are troubled by border control. Social implications First, this research provides suggestions for the government and the tourism industry to deal with such a crisis in the future. Second, this study found that vaccination has a direct impact on tourism. This provides a basis for improving people’s willingness to vaccinate. Thirdly, this study proves suggestion for the destinations to build tourism resilience. Originality/value This study analyzes the unique control measures and vaccination in different countries during the pandemic, then provides suggestions for the tourism industry to prepare for the upcoming postpandemic tourism recovery. This study is valuable for improving the economic resilience of tourism destinations. Additionally, it helps to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of different restrain policies around the world.

Memories from the ‘invisible city’: migration traces at the French-Italian border of Ventimiglia

ABSTRACT Since the reintroduction of border control at the French-Italian border in 2015, the town of Ventimiglia has witnessed an increasing number of migrants who are deemed illegal in the eyes of the current EU migration system. These people have been blocked or slowed down in their attempt to continue their journeys. This article examines around 120 drawings and writings left by migrants in Ventimiglia at the ‘Eufemia’ InfoPoint opened by Progetto20k, a collective that provides support to migrants attempting to cross the border. By reflecting upon these migrant experiences, the present work offers a unique perspective of undocumented movements to and through Europe. Such empirical material is invaluable in order to supplement the debate on ‘migration traces’ along international illegalised migratory routes. Through the analytical lens of ‘migration traces’, this work evidences the complexity of migration narratives from a bottom-up perspective. It also highlights the need for said perspective to challenge the dominant representation of undocumented migrants, perceived merely as threats and ‘objects to be governed’.

Territory, Terrain, and Human Rights: Jurisdiction and Border Control Under the European Convention on Human Rights

ABSTRACT In recent years, European states have become creative in developing strategies to curtail international migration while escaping their obligations under human rights law. These strategies aim at stopping migrants before they can enter a state’s jurisdiction, under the argument that states are not bound to their obligations while operating outside their jurisdictional boundaries. This article adopts a geographic perspective to examine the concept of jurisdiction under the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and particularly its nexus with territory. During the last decade, the ECtHR has interpreted jurisdiction to encompass situations where states apprehend migrants outside their borders, thus extending jurisdiction to extraterritorial operations. However, states can circumvent this by manipulating the territorial organisations of their borders to prevent migrants from reaching their territory without directly apprehending them. These strategies include agreements with countries of transit along with other, specific interventions. I take the case of N.D. and N.T. v. Spain as an example of this trend, and of the ECtHR’s failure to make European states accountable. As a solution, I argue that jurisdiction should be interpreted to encompass territoriality as one of its components, and under a definition of territory informed by geographic research, and distinct from its conventional definition under international law.