Humanitarian Politics in Migration Governance

Humanitarian politics in migration governance explores how principles of care, protection and human rights intersect with mechanisms of control, security and state sovereignty. It examines the ways in which states, international agencies and non-governmental organisations navigate the tension between offering assistance to displaced populations and enforcing border regimes. Central to this field is the concept of humanitarian governmentality, whereby aid and protection are deployed as techniques of population management. Practices such as search-and-rescue operations, camp administration and reception procedures reveal an often uneasy alliance between compassion and regulation. The externalisation of migration control to transit countries, the establishment of offshore processing centres and the use of detention at sea exemplify how humanitarian rationales can justify restrictive measures. At the same time, local communities and civil society actors resist top-down decisions through participatory planning demands and advocacy for alternatives to detention. This research area addresses global challenges, from the Mediterranean and Aegean to the Asia-Pacific, highlighting practical implications for policy design, accountability and the protection of vulnerable groups. By unpacking the political logics of care and security, scholars seek to identify pathways towards more rights-centred and transparent governance frameworks.

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Humanitarian Politics in Migration Governance publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in humanitarian politics in migration governance across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Humanitarian governmentality: The deployment of aid and protection measures as techniques for regulating and managing displaced populations.

Border externalisation: The transfer of migration-control responsibilities to third countries or off-shore locations to limit arrivals on a state’s territory.

NIMBY phenomenon: Local opposition to refugee or asylum facilities, often framed as a demand for participation and information rather than outright hostility.

Migration governance: The ensemble of policies, legal frameworks and institutional practices that shape the movement, admission and integration of migrants.

References

1. Immigration Detention at Sea: maritime migration governance in Australia and the sanctioning of indefinite detention for the purpose of removal. Migration Politics (2024).
2. Interpreting NIMBY as movements claiming participatory planning in the context of refugee camps’ siting: A comparative case study in two Greek regions. Political Geography (2024).
3. A European narrative of border externalisation: the European trust fund for Africa story. European Security (2024).