Weaponized Migration

Dr. Rameez Abbas

Recent headlines imply a particular story of migrants used as weapons: “E.U. Says Belarus ‘Weaponized’ Middle Eastern Migrants” or “The New Front of the ‘Hybrid War’.” (1)

Conflict, as previously discussed in this journal, is routinely waged in the so-called “gray zone,” and the word “weaponization” is often used as shorthand for certain tactics that blur the expected line between war and politics. It tends to indicate the instrumental use and exploitation of people and processes that we think ought not to be exploited—such as migrants who flee their homes in search of safety or prosperity.

Regardless of why people migrate — war, natural disaster, economic hardship, or opportunity — large-scale migration is one of the defining features of our time. But migrants’ safety in transit is increasingly threatened as border controls, enhanced over recent decades as part of the war on terrorism – become more robust, and people find ever more dangerous ways to circumvent them. Even if safe transit is assured, migrants’ ability to thrive at their destination depends on state policies of inclusion or exclusion. These, too, have been dramatically altered by anti- and counter-terrorism security protocols.

The “weaponization” of migration is an additional layer in the challenges that migrants face. But recent headlines notwithstanding, the exploitation of migration is not a new phenomenon. A well-known historical example is when Muammar Gaddafi threatened to tu...