The Adiaphorization and Dehumanization of Migrations from the Ethical and Moral Approach of Public Policies

Today, migration has become one of the main challenges for humanity. In the last ten years, the percentage of displaced people gradually increased, mainly from the southern hemisphere to the north, in search for better living conditions and, in many cases, forced by risks and instability in their countries of origin. The COVID-19 pandemic, far from minimizing migrations, further exacerbated these processes. In light of this situation, some states passed immigration laws that protect their citizens on one hand, but which violate the fundamental rights of migrants on the other. This article aims to determine the main reasons behind the alarming process of migrant dehumanization. We will verify how these national and supranational laws and decisions represent a move towards securitization through a strategic or adiaphoric process, and how ethics and morals are not at the core of these policies. With these decisions, the suffering and death of migrants generates attitudes of indifference among citizens, who often accept and normalize its occurrence. We suggest revising these public policies on migration from the framework of the ethics of Levinasian alterity and Kantian hospitality.