Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LIBORG (EU Externalization of Migration and Border Management to Libya: the Role of Non-Governmental Organizations and Human Rights Implications)
Berichtszeitraum: 2019-05-03 bis 2021-05-02
The project aimed at: a) mapping the different NGOs operating in the field of international migration in Libya; b) analyzing their mandates and activities, as well as the relevant funding sources; c) analyzing the relations they have to one another as well as to state authorities and IOs; d) assessing the relationship NGOs have with externalization and with human rights.
This is an important issue for the European society because the externalisation of migration and border controls is part of the EU’s external action. According to article 21 of the Treaty on European Union, “[t]he Union’s action on the international scene shall be guided by the principles which have inspired its own creation, development and enlargement, and which it seeks to advance in the wider world: democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, the principles of equality and solidarity, and respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law”.
Moreover, NGOs, as an essential part of civil society, and their work thus represents a cornerstone of the principle of participatory democracy enshrined in article I-47 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.
The research shows that international and Libyan NGOs participate to some extent in the externalisation of the European migration and border regime. This is also facilitated by the organisations’ tendency to blur the boundaries between humanitarian and development aid.
The action of international NGOs in Libya oscillates between compliance with and opposition to externalisation logics. In between these two poles there is a grey zone in which NGOs remain trapped in the care-control nexus.
NGOs’ activities only support a limited number of rights: the right to life, to healthcare and to asylum (all three with heavy limitations), and the right to return to one’s own country. These rights all serve the goal of externalisation (‘keeping them there’). Other rights, such as the right to a fair trial, are not supported – not to mention the right to self-determination or even that to leave any country, as this may encourage the sea crossing.
The project’s findings are made publicly available through the following dissemination and communication activities:
- Creation of a project webpage
- Organisation of an academic workshop
- Organisation of an academic conference
- Organisation of two conference panels
- Organisation of two public meetings with researchers, journalists, NGOs, donors and policymakers (both video-recorded and available online)
- Publication of six opinion pieces in four different languages
- Eight paper presentations at conferences (7) and workshops (1)
- Two invited talks
- Submission of six scientific papers (one already published)
- Four further scientific papers scheduled for 2021-22
Literature on the role of NGOs in migration governance has mainly focused on wealthy destination countries of the Global North. Only recently did scholars start looking at so-called countries of transit and origin, and, more specifically, at the relationship between NGOs’ activities and externalisation.
By looking at international and local NGOs operating in Libya in the migration field, the project addresses a gap in the research on EU externalisation to Libya, which has only focused on state-state relations, or, more rarely, on state-IOs relations.
A further original contribution to the state of the art is the focus on the convergence between development aid and humanitarian aid as a basis for externalised border work through NGOs.
Finally, the relationship between externalisation and human rights has long been the object of attention from researchers, activists and policymakers alike. However, the specific role played by NGOs at the intersection of externalisation and human rights in the European neighbourhood has been hardly analysed.
Project results will be useful for both policymakers and practitioners, including NGOs and IOs, as well as for the media. They provide new insights into the situation of migrants in Libya, and into the role actually played by civil society actors. Therefore, they could inspire policymakers, NGOs and IOs in revising their policies and practices in Libya.