Episode 105: EU-Turkish migration and borders

Undercurrents

Six years after the EU-Turkey Joint Statement, domestic changes in Turkey and international developments such as the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan have ensured the border between Greece and Turkey remains a hotspot for migration flows.

Today, Turkey is one of the world’s biggest refugee-receiving countries and hosts four million refugees.

In this episode, Ayşen Üstübici, assistant professor at Koç University in Istanbul, speaks to Mariana about EU-Turkey migration diplomacy and the Turkish role in international migration governance.

Looking back, Ayşen outlines the implications of the 2016 statement and the evolving attitudes of Turkish cities towards migrants and asylum-seekers in the intervening years.

Then Stefanos Levidis from Forensic Architecture explores the other side of the border with Danai, looking at the Greek case as the external border of the EU.

Stefanos explains why the EU-Turkey border is important and how the natural environment can be weaponized to enforce border controls.

Read Chatham House’s expert comments on EU migration policies: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/03/ukraine-exposes-europes-double-standards-refugees

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/10/what-externalization-and-why-it-threat-refugees

Credits:

Speakers: Ayşen Üstübici, Stefanos Levidis

Hosts: Danai Avgeri, Mariana Vieira

Editor: Jamie Reed Sound Services

Recorded and produced by Chatham House