BSIS Researcher Richa Kumar is coordinating a conference together with the VUB’s Institute for European Studies.
With the abolition of internal borders, the protection of Europe’s external borders has taken a centre-stage which have escalated following the attacks of 9/11, Madrid and London. Growing security concerns have led to the increased deployment of border surveillance technologies on the perimeter of the Schengenland (Walters and Haahr, 2005). Much of the border surveillance and security technologies are deployed by the defence and security companies within the ambit of EU funded research project – i.e. the EU Security Research Programme (ESRP). Overtime, border management, formerly held within the complete purview of national military and security agencies has been increasingly penetrated by private agencies and corporations resulting in transnational and inter-agency collaborations. Thus, with the abolition of internal European borders and the simultaneous fortification of external borders, there has been a multiplication of actors involved in border control practices, creating a fertile space for the convergence of public security concerns with private economic interests. It is in the backdrop of foregoing transformations in the EU’s border control practices that this event seeks to explore risks and opportunities for several groups: state and EU institutions, corporations, the European public and the large numbers of undocumented migrants and asylum seekers who resolutely attempt to enter Europe.
For more information on this conference, please see http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward/show?u=35be40d7017ec1505f49b7116&id=6cbf9c6714
For more information about Richa Kumar, see http://www.kent.ac.uk/brussels/staff/profiles/research/kumar.html