Justifying opposition and support to EU-Africa cooperation on deportation in West Africa

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cham, Omar N.; Adam, Ilke
• 署名单位: Vrije Universiteit Brussel; Vrije Universiteit Brussel
• 刊物名称: GOVERNANCE-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLICY ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0952-1895
• DOI: 10.1111/gove.12846
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: policy-making; migration; ideas

摘要

Migration, in general, is not a salient political issue in West Africa. However, one migration aspect that remains highly controversial and unpopular is cooperation on the deportation of undocumented emigrants with the EU and its member states. In this paper, we set out a typology of justification frames for studying how political actors in West Africa might frame their support or opposition to cooperation on deportation. We distinguished three types of justifications: identity-related, moral, and utilitarian. While the moral (human rights) and utilitarian (political, economic, securitarian, labor) frames are rather classic justifications in migration politics and governance, our analysis shows that identity-related ('neo-colonial resistance' and 'neo-colonial compliance') justification frames highlight how historical path dependencies matter in understanding the drivers of (migration) politics and governance in West Africa. This is particularly evident when the images of cuffed and shackled deportees from Europe evoke memories of dark historical pasts.