“So, if you ask whether fences work: they work”—the role of border fortifications for migration control and access to asylum. Comparing Hungary and the USA

Comparative Migration Studies

Original Article

Kristina Korte¹ 

[1] Department of Social Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany;

关键词: Migration control;    Asylum;    Symbolic borders;    Filter borders;    Border fence;    Border regime;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40878-023-00352-1

 received in 2022-06-23, accepted in 2023-08-21,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

This paper analyzes the role of border fortifications for migration control and access to asylum based on two case studies: the Hungarian–Serbian and U.S. American–Mexican borders. The research is based on qualitative interviews on both sides of the borders. It shows that despite other options for border control, fortifications still play an important role, especially for asylum seekers. Fences fulfill a material, a symbolic and a filtering function here. The three functions contribute in different ways to preventing asylum seekers from crossing the border, thus depriving refugees of the opportunity to apply for asylum. The paper shoes that fences fulfill functions that other forms of border control (such as shifting or smart borders) cannot accomplish in the same way and it thereby contributes to understanding the ‘puzzle’ of contemporary border fencing.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023