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Editorial: Bodies at borders: analyzing the objectification and containment of migrants at border crossing

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Ryan, Louise, Grabowska, Izabela, López, María E. and Romero, Vidal (2023) Editorial: Bodies at borders: analyzing the objectification and containment of migrants at border crossing. Frontiers in sociology, 8. pp. 1-3. ISSN 2297-7775

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Abstract

By the end of 2022, the number of forcibly displaced people globally had reached 108.4 million as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, and events seriously disturbing public order (UNHCR, 2023). Efforts to prevent these people from crossing national boundaries have resulted in draconian legislation and the vilification of migrants at various international borders. In the Mediterranean, at the border with “fortress Europe,” there have been thousands of fatalities as migrants risk the treacherous crossing in tiny boats (IMO, 2023). The so-called “weaponization of migration” is apparent in recent events on the Belarussian–Polish border, with hundreds of asylum seekers trapped between rival forces of armed soldiers and subject to “pushbacks” (Guardian Newspaper, 2023). Under the UK government’s “hostile environment” policy, many legal immigration routes have been closed, and the rights of asylum seekers have been severely curtailed (Webber, 2019). The so-called “migrant caravan,” which began in Honduras in October 2018, prompted the US and Mexican governments to deploy active-duty military officers to the border, creating more chaos in the area than ever before (Guardian Newspaper, 2022).

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