Från diskurs till praktik? En studie om säkerhetiseringen av irreguljär migration och dess konsekvenser

Abstract

This thesis discusses the theory of securitization in relation to the issue of irregular migration, from EU level to national level. By using discourse analysis, the purpose is to explore whether the discourse leads to practice when it comes to national implementation of EU debates on return policy. The material used in this work consists of policy documents regarding the Return Directive from the European Commission as well as the Reva Project in Swedish migration policy. The main objective of the Reva Project is to make the process of returning irregular immigrants more effective and it has been strongly criticized, both by media and public opinion. The conclusion of this case study is that even if the security rhetoric may appear stronger on the EU level, the main elements of the security discourse are still portrayed in the implementation on the national level. Based on this analysis we can make the presumption that discourse develops into practice in the case of return policy in the EU-member state relation.