De Dépendance - Fortress Europe

Pushbacks are turning the Mediterranean into a mass grave. Invasive surveillance technologies are being deployed against people on the move across the Polish, Romanian or Croatian borders. And unprecedented footage documents the EU’s continuous involvement in racially motivated anti-migrant operations in North Africa. What is happening at Europe’s borders?

As fascist sentiments are on the rise, leaders across the continent embrace formerly taboo approaches to migration, advocating for deportation centres and border externalisation agreements while safe and legal routes to Europe diminish – leaving more and more space for smuggling and human trafficking. The EU’s migration policies don’t work, yet rules continue to harden.

On Tuesday 21 January we welcome three experts on migration: socio-cultural anthropologist Gabriella E. Sánchez – acclaimed global expert on border control; Wies Maas – International Programme Coordinator at the Dutch Council for Refugees with 15 years of experience in migration and refugee rights; and investigative journalist Klaas van Dijken – Director of Lighthouse Reports. They will discuss how Europe is closing its borders and at what cost, including insights from van Dijken’s latest investigation ‘Desert Dumps‘ which unveils how Europe supports and finances clandestine operations in North African countries where refugees, migrant workers and asylum seekers are being abandoned in the desert to prevent them from entering the EU.

In conversation with moderator Nuria Ribas Costa, we will unpack how and why Fortress Europe continues to raise its walls against the global south – and what can be done to better manage migration without violating human rights.