The burning of an effigy of refugees on a boat to the cheers of a riled-up crowd in Moygashel, Northern Ireland shows where we are today. A decade has passed since Europe’s border crisis in 2015 and the shock caused by the image of Alan Kurdi, whose little body was found washed up on a Turkish beach. Sentiments of welcome and solidarity were short lived and have given way to a seemingly never-ending obsession in Europe with “stopping the boats” and reducing the number of migrant arrivals.
In the decade since Angela Merkel’s “we can do it”, we have become used to hearing that 2015 must not be allowed to happen again. Across Europe, politicians routinely vow to fight migration, “smash” smuggling gangs, ramp up border controls and build up detention and deportation capacities. A much-criticised migration pact was agreed upon while the annual budget of Frontex, the EU border agency, has seen a staggering increase, from €97.9m in 2014 to €922m in 2024. Entire border zones have become militarised and the guarding of borders has been “externalised” so that non-EU countries can prevent migration on Europe’s behalf.
