The European Dispositif of Border Control in Malta. Migrants’ Experiences of a Securitized Borderland

With its accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004, Malta became a part of a European dispositif of border control. Maltese policy-makers are now charged with preventing migrants from reaching the EU mainland. Malta has thus implemented a mandatory detention policy towards people rescued at sea. When migrants arrive on the island, they are detained in military barracks for a period of up to 18 months. Subsequently, they are released from detention. Some settle in Malta, while others manage to leave the island. This paper combines critical security studies with borderlands studies to examine the construction and reinforcement of a border through social practices and government apparatuses. It explores migrants’ own experiences of what is conceptualized as a securitized borderland. The securitized borderland concept, which simultaneously refers to a space of control, a zone of transit and a place of living, is ambivalent enough to capture the ambiguous situation of migrants in Malta. Empirical data is based on fieldwork carried out in Malta and Brussels, which included observations and interactions with migrants, and interviews with national and European policy-makers, as well as with representatives from international and non-governmental organizations. Finally, this paper offers an ethnography of the social construction of an island-border which epitomizes the concept of a securitized borderland.