Beyond the criminalisation of migration: a non-western perspective

A number of non-western source countries have been involved in the control of migration and borders leading to the adoption of restrictive laws and policies aimed at 'fighting against irregular migration'. North African countries are a case in point. This article sets out to look beyond the oft-cited securitisation of migration policies and the consequential criminalisation of irregular border-crossing. North African countries' proactive involvement in the reinforced securitisation of migration policies is examined while making use of the various heuristic devices produced by the scholarship and focusing on policy transfers, socialisation, norm diffusion and localisation in international systems. By adopting a non-western perspective, this study demonstrates that, ultimately, there is no stable point from which to observe cooperative systems and analyse socialisation, for both socialisees and socialisers may play interchangeable roles, under specific conditions. These conditions are thoroughly examined.