Start Date
4-23-2018 2:30 PM
End Date
4-23-2018 3:00 PM
Disciplines
Security
Description
The Western Balkans Migration Route, stretching between the Middle East and the southeastern region of the European Union (EU), has long been a source of political and cultural strife, most recently due to its prevalence during the 2015 Migration Crisis. The chaotic movement of refugees and asylum seekers created an environment for security risks to develop along the route, with three in particular seeing a rise in prevalence: human smuggling, trafficking of illegal goods and the movement of dangerous individuals into the EU. This paper looks into, via separate case studies, the history and development of each security risk within the Western Balkans while analyzing each risk before and after the recent migration crisis. The paper also observes how the Balkan countries and EU member states have taken steps to address said security risks, the successes, failures and complications particularly during the migration crisis. One area of significance will be the lack of cohesive action within the EU institutions, which saw conflicting political ideologies, member states dealing with the flow of migrants and local issues within the Balkan countries preventing decisive action. The paper concludes noting that these security risks have seen a decrease along the Western Balkans Route since 2015, particularly following the EU-Turkey migration deal, which closed the passage along the route for migrants in 2016. However, it is noted that more coherence in the initiatives by local and international actors is key to further decrease these risks in the foreseeable future.
The Development and Management of Security Risks along the Western Balkans Migration Route
The Western Balkans Migration Route, stretching between the Middle East and the southeastern region of the European Union (EU), has long been a source of political and cultural strife, most recently due to its prevalence during the 2015 Migration Crisis. The chaotic movement of refugees and asylum seekers created an environment for security risks to develop along the route, with three in particular seeing a rise in prevalence: human smuggling, trafficking of illegal goods and the movement of dangerous individuals into the EU. This paper looks into, via separate case studies, the history and development of each security risk within the Western Balkans while analyzing each risk before and after the recent migration crisis. The paper also observes how the Balkan countries and EU member states have taken steps to address said security risks, the successes, failures and complications particularly during the migration crisis. One area of significance will be the lack of cohesive action within the EU institutions, which saw conflicting political ideologies, member states dealing with the flow of migrants and local issues within the Balkan countries preventing decisive action. The paper concludes noting that these security risks have seen a decrease along the Western Balkans Route since 2015, particularly following the EU-Turkey migration deal, which closed the passage along the route for migrants in 2016. However, it is noted that more coherence in the initiatives by local and international actors is key to further decrease these risks in the foreseeable future.
