Securitization of Migration: an Australian case study of global trends

Post September 11 migration has increasingly been framed as a security problem. In the 2010 Australian election campaign migration was connected to security (defense of our borders, terrorism and social cohesion) and to related issues of insecurity about the future (population size, sustainability and economic growth). This framing of migration as a national security issue overlooks the reality that Australian immigration is part of the global flow of population. Migration is an international issue experienced by states as a national question of border control and sovereignty seeking to manage the consequences of global inequality and mobility. This paper analyses the 'security turn' in migration debates in Australia and the North and the way the securitization of migration signifies the transformation of security from the problem of producing national order to the problem of managing global disorder resulting in the merging of national and international security strategies.