Author: Sharon Hartles April 2016
In the pursuit of security refugees are becoming criminalised
Why and how are refugees becoming criminalised for seeking asylum?
Within democratic societies electorates have the opportunity to seek individual security or responsibilisation through the political process. Electorates who choose to vote and are able to engage in the voting system can use it as a vehicle to have their voices heard. A significant proportion of electorates may be swayed towards voting for a political party based purely on a particular part of it’s manifesto discourse. The aforementioned being the punitive measures set out to legitimise the criminalisation of actions and behaviours by particular kinds of refugees and immigration.
In a bid to demonstrate control, maintain social order and national security, governments and congress have responded by flexing their sovereign power, right and entitlement. This has taken the form of the enactment of laws which have narrowed the scope of membership. In the pursuit of security the vicious spiral for more punitive measures against refugees has enabled governments and congress to lawfully enact laws which restrict the liberties, rights and freedoms not only of excluded members such as refugees, but also included legal and permanent members who are deemed to pose a risk to individual or national security. Professor of Law, Juliet Stumpf refers to this process as crimmigration, the criminalisation of immigration law, the inevitability of this has been the widening of the net of juridification.
Through mediation refugees are becoming criminalised
Media has played a significant role in informing and influencing mass audiences. It is common knowledge that most media coverage has mediated refugees or the refugee crisis in an unsympathetic manner. Instability and conflict-torn countries experiencing warfare such as the Syrian war (2001 to present) has primarily been represented in a quantitative way referring to the movement of thousands of migrants and refugees who have crossed into Europe in 2015.
Mediation reveals how events such as the war on terror 9/11, (2001) attacks in the USA, 7/7 (2005) London bombings, Paris terror attacks 2015, have been used to translate the perception of the immigrant from hardworking, scofflaw, criminal to terrorist (until proven innocent).
The electorates who engage in the political process can use the mediation institution of the political arena to effectively have their voices heard. It can be used as a platform to translate messages between the electorates and governments or congress. Messages such as the heightened fears of insecurity created by the upsurge in patterns of migration, which have been generated by mass media coverage, can be translated via a vote and responded to with the enactment of even more punitive crimmigration laws.
Mediation devices are utilised to ensure that crimmigration laws are implemented and upheld. Refugees seeking asylum from war-torn countries are welcomed by mediation devices which are more commonly associated with convicted criminals. 'I may not be legal, but I am not a criminal' (Kubal, quoted on youtube.com, 2016). Welcoming devices for refugees include fingerprinting, numbering, detention and the police.
An unintended consequence has been the misuse of media, translation and mediation devices. The Canadian government successfully enacted laws which reflected it’s bias towards individuals of Jamaican origin illustrating racalised cleansing and the systematic abuse of sovereign power. This misuse resulted in the lawful removal and deportation of legal and permanent members who had been perceived to be dangerous criminal immigrants. Deportation went relatively unchallenged because it is deemed to be a governments right to exercise it’s sovereign power.
The current situation would suggest that instead of countries and states being tolerant of refugees and immigration, in the pursuit of electorate and national security governments and congress are mediating damage. This damage reveals how mediation is impacting negatively on those who are not considered to be included or welcome members such as refugees, but as explained has also been extended to include undesirable legal members. The effects of this mediation is the criminalisation of some of the most vulnerable and desolate members of the social worlds.
References
Aasen, H, S. (2016) ‘Juridification and Social Citizenship in the Welfare State’ Edward Elgar publishing [Online] Available at http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/juridification-and-social-citizenship-in-the-welfare-state (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Barnes, A. (2009) ‘Displacing Danger: Managing Crime Through Deportation’ Springer Science + Business Media B.V.Int. Migration & Integration (2009) 10:431–445 DOI 10.1007/s12134-009-0107-y, [Online] Available at
http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/263/art%253A10.1007%252Fs12134-009-0107-y.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs12134-009-0107y&token2=exp=1458076851~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F263%2Fart%25253A10.1007%25252Fs12134-009-0107(Accessed 9th April 2016)
BBC, (2016) ‘Migrant crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts’ [Online] Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34131911 (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Dearden, L. (2015) ‘The four ways Europe is treating refugees like convicted criminals’ Independent.co.uk (2015) [Online] Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisis-four-ways-european-countries-treat-asylum-seekers-like-convicted-criminals-10483185.html (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Lewis and Clark Law School (2016) [Online] Available at https://law.lclark.edu/live/profiles/305-juliet-stumpf (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Simply Psychology (2008) [Online]. Available at http://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Stumpf, J. (2006) ‘The crimmigration crisis: immigrants, crime, and sovereign power’, The American University Law Review, vol. 56, p. 367, [Online] Available at http://heinonline.org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/aulr56&page=367&collection=journals (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Wilkinson, M, The telegraph (2016) [Online] Available at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11451936/General-Election-2015-Immigration-policy.html(Accessed 9th April 2016)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please cite this article as:
Hartles, S (2016) CRIMMIGRATION Revealed [Online] Available at https://sharonhartles.weebly.com/crimmigration-revealed.html (Accessed)
ATTRIBUTION
All works are Open Access articles distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original works are properly cited.
© Sharon Hartles 2022.
In the pursuit of security refugees are becoming criminalised
Why and how are refugees becoming criminalised for seeking asylum?
Within democratic societies electorates have the opportunity to seek individual security or responsibilisation through the political process. Electorates who choose to vote and are able to engage in the voting system can use it as a vehicle to have their voices heard. A significant proportion of electorates may be swayed towards voting for a political party based purely on a particular part of it’s manifesto discourse. The aforementioned being the punitive measures set out to legitimise the criminalisation of actions and behaviours by particular kinds of refugees and immigration.
In a bid to demonstrate control, maintain social order and national security, governments and congress have responded by flexing their sovereign power, right and entitlement. This has taken the form of the enactment of laws which have narrowed the scope of membership. In the pursuit of security the vicious spiral for more punitive measures against refugees has enabled governments and congress to lawfully enact laws which restrict the liberties, rights and freedoms not only of excluded members such as refugees, but also included legal and permanent members who are deemed to pose a risk to individual or national security. Professor of Law, Juliet Stumpf refers to this process as crimmigration, the criminalisation of immigration law, the inevitability of this has been the widening of the net of juridification.
Through mediation refugees are becoming criminalised
Media has played a significant role in informing and influencing mass audiences. It is common knowledge that most media coverage has mediated refugees or the refugee crisis in an unsympathetic manner. Instability and conflict-torn countries experiencing warfare such as the Syrian war (2001 to present) has primarily been represented in a quantitative way referring to the movement of thousands of migrants and refugees who have crossed into Europe in 2015.
Mediation reveals how events such as the war on terror 9/11, (2001) attacks in the USA, 7/7 (2005) London bombings, Paris terror attacks 2015, have been used to translate the perception of the immigrant from hardworking, scofflaw, criminal to terrorist (until proven innocent).
The electorates who engage in the political process can use the mediation institution of the political arena to effectively have their voices heard. It can be used as a platform to translate messages between the electorates and governments or congress. Messages such as the heightened fears of insecurity created by the upsurge in patterns of migration, which have been generated by mass media coverage, can be translated via a vote and responded to with the enactment of even more punitive crimmigration laws.
Mediation devices are utilised to ensure that crimmigration laws are implemented and upheld. Refugees seeking asylum from war-torn countries are welcomed by mediation devices which are more commonly associated with convicted criminals. 'I may not be legal, but I am not a criminal' (Kubal, quoted on youtube.com, 2016). Welcoming devices for refugees include fingerprinting, numbering, detention and the police.
An unintended consequence has been the misuse of media, translation and mediation devices. The Canadian government successfully enacted laws which reflected it’s bias towards individuals of Jamaican origin illustrating racalised cleansing and the systematic abuse of sovereign power. This misuse resulted in the lawful removal and deportation of legal and permanent members who had been perceived to be dangerous criminal immigrants. Deportation went relatively unchallenged because it is deemed to be a governments right to exercise it’s sovereign power.
The current situation would suggest that instead of countries and states being tolerant of refugees and immigration, in the pursuit of electorate and national security governments and congress are mediating damage. This damage reveals how mediation is impacting negatively on those who are not considered to be included or welcome members such as refugees, but as explained has also been extended to include undesirable legal members. The effects of this mediation is the criminalisation of some of the most vulnerable and desolate members of the social worlds.
References
Aasen, H, S. (2016) ‘Juridification and Social Citizenship in the Welfare State’ Edward Elgar publishing [Online] Available at http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/juridification-and-social-citizenship-in-the-welfare-state (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Barnes, A. (2009) ‘Displacing Danger: Managing Crime Through Deportation’ Springer Science + Business Media B.V.Int. Migration & Integration (2009) 10:431–445 DOI 10.1007/s12134-009-0107-y, [Online] Available at
http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/263/art%253A10.1007%252Fs12134-009-0107-y.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs12134-009-0107y&token2=exp=1458076851~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F263%2Fart%25253A10.1007%25252Fs12134-009-0107(Accessed 9th April 2016)
BBC, (2016) ‘Migrant crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts’ [Online] Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34131911 (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Dearden, L. (2015) ‘The four ways Europe is treating refugees like convicted criminals’ Independent.co.uk (2015) [Online] Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisis-four-ways-european-countries-treat-asylum-seekers-like-convicted-criminals-10483185.html (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Lewis and Clark Law School (2016) [Online] Available at https://law.lclark.edu/live/profiles/305-juliet-stumpf (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Simply Psychology (2008) [Online]. Available at http://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Stumpf, J. (2006) ‘The crimmigration crisis: immigrants, crime, and sovereign power’, The American University Law Review, vol. 56, p. 367, [Online] Available at http://heinonline.org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/aulr56&page=367&collection=journals (Accessed 9th April 2016)
Wilkinson, M, The telegraph (2016) [Online] Available at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11451936/General-Election-2015-Immigration-policy.html(Accessed 9th April 2016)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please cite this article as:
Hartles, S (2016) CRIMMIGRATION Revealed [Online] Available at https://sharonhartles.weebly.com/crimmigration-revealed.html (Accessed)
ATTRIBUTION
All works are Open Access articles distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original works are properly cited.
© Sharon Hartles 2022.