Human mobility, a challenge to state sovereignty? The case of refugees and asylum seekers

Melissa Phillips (University of Melbourne)

Currently we are witnessing scenes of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers seeking refuge or economic opportunities in countries across the global north who are usurping immigration controls and border regimes by taking risky boat journeys. These individuals pose a challenge to notions of state sovereignty due to their nature of their movement and their decision to not wait in their countries of origin or transit countries, but instead go directly to their intended destination. While refugees are understood to be people in need of protection who are unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of their country, what happens when mechanisms reinforcing state sovereignty potentially contravene international obligations towards people fleeing persecution? How can irregular migration, recently termed the ‘new norm’ by the EU’s Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Commissioner Dimitri Avramopoulos, be reconciled with an increasingly securitised approach to maintaining sovereignty? These questions challenge notions of statehood, borders and migration which are fundamental to conceptions of sovereignty.