The impact of the Arab spring on EU security policy

Abstract

The Arab pro-democratic uprisings, which started in 2010 in Tunisia, led to the overthrow of several dictatorial regimes in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. The Arab Spring exacerbated the sentiment of insecurity among the European population due to influx of irregular migrants from North Africa and the Middle East to European shores. In fact, in 2015, more than one million migrants reached European shores irregularly. The aims of this dissertation are first, to determine, list and explain some of the most salient directives and regulations, relating to asylum, border control and migration, as ratified by the EU, by its Member States, and by members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Secondly, to determine whether the protection of human security (including the safeguarding of fundamental human rights) of these migrants was secured or whether it was jeopardised. This migration crisis questions how the EU protects human security rights within its own borders and whether the reform of the Common European Asylum System was adequate to deal with massive influx of migrants reaching European shores irregularly. This crisis also questions the spirit of solidarity between EU member states on issues relating to burden sharing of irregular migrants from frontline Mediterranean states. This crisis also challenged various national governments due to the rise of Eurosceptic, and far-right parties, which used this crisis for their campaigns to rally against irregular migration. This crisis also exhibited the deficiencies of EU policies relating to asylum, border management and migration. The first research question that this study addresses is ‘What were the changes introduced by the EU in the area of asylum, border control and migration?’ This research question corresponds to the aforementioned first aim of this dissertation. The five legislative acts which are analysed consist of the (recast) Qualification Directive, the (recast) Asylum Procedures Directive, the (recast) Reception Conditions Directive, the (recast) Eurodac Regulation and the Dublin III Regulation. Reference to the EU-Turkey Statement is also made. Sea rescue operations such as Mare Nostrum, Operation Triton and Operation Sophia are also referenced. The second research question this study addresses is: ‘Do these changes protect the security of the increasing number of migrants reaching European shores irregularly?’ This is directly linked to the aforementioned second aim of this dissertation. The purpose of this research question is to determine whether the fundamental human rights of irregular migrants are protected or whether they are jeopardised. The aims of this research were fulfilled and the research questions were answered. The main findings note that the application of the aforementioned legislative acts violate the right to life; right to human dignity; right to prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment; right to asylum; right of non-discrimination and the right of protection of personal data. Thus, further reforms are necessary to ensure the unprecedented protection of fundamental rights of irregular migrants in Europe.