Environmental Justice and the (Re) Production of Sacrifice Zones: The Impact of Migration Policies and Practices in the Aegean

As displacement increasingly shapes contemporary realities, powerful nation-states are adopting securitisation strategies that externalise their borders and designating specific territories to absorb 'excess' populations, particularly along migration corridors. This trend necessitates further research to understand the impacts in relation to broader concepts of justice. This paper illustrates how an environmental justice lens enriches existing scholarship on the 'dark side' of migration management, by examining the social and environmental consequences that transform host territories into sacrifice zones. We apply an environmental justice framework to the five Aegean islands identified by the European Commission's hotspot approach in 2015 for managing migration into Europe. These fragile ecosystems face significant environmental degradation and social inequities stemming from the containment of displaced individuals and refugee camp infrastructures. We argue that environmental violence is a mechanism of power, enhancing control over marginalised bodies and warranting greater attention in both theoretical and empirical studies. Through participatory action research, this study reconstructs the trajectory of the hotspot approach, analysing the distributive and procedural injustices that exacerbate ongoing humanitarian and environmental crises. Our findings reveal that the hotspot approach, rooted in a colonial mindset, exploits both the tangible and intangible assets of these islands, transforming them into sacrifice zones and enabling controlling agendas. Using an environmental justice framework underscores the processes that restrict individual and collective agency, exploit vulnerable ecological systems, and undermine the structures that protect rights and advocate for affected territories.