CRS Seminar Series: The Tragedy of Europe: How Integration and Open Borders cause Migration Crises

With guest speaker:
Craig Damian Smith, Associate Director of the Migration Lab, Munk School, University of Toronto
European attempts to control irregular migration demonstrably cause a range of negative security outcomes in peripheral transit states, including insecurity for migrants, more transnational crime, entrenched authoritarian governments, and the erosion of international protection norms. While attention has focused on Europe’s post-2015 migration policies, this paper argues Europe is caught in a decades-long process akin to a classical security dilemma: in pursuing the positive gains of deep integration, Europe necessarily fosters insecurity around its peripheries.
Craig Damian Smith is the Associate Director of the Global Migration Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and an Affiliated Researcher at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University.