Migration deal: 'Really a scheme around political diplomacy between UK & France in post-Brexit era'
Erin Ogunkeye is pleased to welcome Parvati Nair, Professor of Hispanic, Cultural and Migration Studies at Queen Mary University of London. She sees the UK-France migration agreement as a small but revealing element of a much wider post-Brexit relationship, in which questions of migration are intertwined with diplomacy, security, intelligence and surveillance. She warns that the scheme risks…
Professor Parvati Nair of Queen Mary University of London sees the recent UK-France migration agreement as a small but significant aspect of the broader post-Brexit relationship. This agreement intertwines questions of migration with diplomacy, security, intelligence, and surveillance. However, Nair warns that this scheme risks reducing a complex human reality to mere numbers and deterrence, overlooking the plight of those who may be political or economic refugees.
Many of these migrants have fled conflict, displacement, and traumatic experiences, yet public discourse often categorizes them simply as "migrants" and perceives migration as a problem and a threat.
Nair emphasizes the need for governments to address the root causes of displacement, such as conflicts, climate disasters, and historical inequalities, while establishing safe and legal pathways for movement. This, she believes, requires greater accountability and transparency, a reconsideration of militarized borders and the criminalization of mobility, and a more fundamental shift in how migration is represented in public and media discourse.
Migration has always been a part of human history, and it can greatly enrich the societies in which it occurs. The challenge lies in building systems that respect both national sovereignty and human dignity.
Written by urgent.news from France 24's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
