Analysis of Externalisation in the Italian-Libyan context

Abstract

During a parliamentary debate on 2 March 2010 the Italian Minister of the Interior, Roberto Maroni, affirmed Italian commitment to enhance a ‘new governance model which involves both migration sending and destination countries to promote cooperation and common forms of discipline’ (Senato, 2010: 56). As mentioned in Chapter 1, the process whereby migrant-receiving countries seek to collaborate with, and transfer some of their migration-related responsibilities to, third countries has come to be known as ‘externalisation’. This concept is at the core of this chapter which addresses three main questions. First, can the joint collaboration be considered a manifestation of externalisation as defined in the academic literature? Second, have the joint actions discussed in the previous chapter succeeded in reducing unwanted migrant flows? Third, how has migration influenced the bargaining dynamics between the two countries? In answering these questions, I will assess the impact of the putative outsourcing of migration control practices on inter-state relations. I argue that the theoretical debate is still open both on the applicability of the externalisation concept to this particular case and on its broader representativeness. This discussion serves as a necessary prelude to the next chapter, which examines bilateral actions on migration from the perspective of IR theory.