Access to Asylum in Melilla Analysing ‘What’s the problem represented to be’ in the Screening Proposal of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum

Abstract

This thesis deals with the ways in which the Screening Proposal in the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum might affect the access to asylum at the EU’s external border in Melilla. To this end, the analysis is divided into two main parts. Firstly, as a general framework, the thesis starts by mapping out the Screening Proposal presented by the European Commission in 2020, and how this can be understood as an extension of the hotspots system presented by the European Commission in 2015. Bacchi’s problematisation approach will then be used to investigate hidden silences and make visible taken-for-granted truths in the EU asylum policies. Secondly and most particularly, attention is directed at how the proposed screening regulations may impact the access to the asylum system in Melilla. For this specific purpose, the thesis draws on the experiences and knowledge of experts working to assist asylum seekers along the border between the Spanish enclave of Melilla and the city of Nador in Morocco, collected through semi-structured qualitative interviews. The thesis explains that the aim of the Screening Proposal in the Pact is not to strengthen the protection mechanism for asylum seekers, but to maintain the securitisation of the EU’s borders and control arrivals to the EU through a legally binding agreement. In this sense, Melilla is a clear example, where security and migration control prevail over access to asylum, and the proposed screening regulations may affect access to asylum even further.