On 3 September a comment piece I wrote for El Pais was published as part of a 4-page investigation into border violence against migrants and refugees. In the article I argue that violence has become an inherent aspect of Europe’s response to migration, particularly from the Global South. It occurs across various sites within Europe and is increasingly extended beyond its borders through the outsourcing of immigration control to third countries.

State violence is the product of deliberate actions, such as imposing excessively punitive conditions on those who irregularly enter Europe to seek asylum, but it also arises from deliberate state inactions, as seen in the case of the Pylos shipwreck. In this instance, the Greek Coast Guard’s intervention was too little and too late, despite the Greek authorities and Frontex being aware of the dire conditions on the migrant boat for hours and monitoring it from a distance.

The article also examines the link between border externalisation and the normalisation of state violence.