Paper short abstract:

As a consequence of border externalization, regions have created a transnational sovereign assemblage that prevents displaced populations from exiting the Global South. The resulting assemblage reinforces the prevailing neocolonial structure by setting distance between states and refugees.

Paper long abstract:

Externalization border control practices have been increasingly used by states around the world over the last three decades. In particular, after 9/11 these immigration controls have intensified due to the securitization rhetoric. Western countries are transnationally fortifying themselves to avoid migrants and asylum-seekers reach their countries, as these populations are viewed—in biopolitical terms—as a threat to the health of the nation. This paper argues that as a consequence of border externalization measures, these regions have created overlapping buffer areas that combined result in an overarching buffer zone that is not country specific but rather a transnational sovereign assemblage of Western countries' borders. This assemblage requires looking beyond particular nation's border regimes and rather understanding the West as monolithic buffer zone that transfers the containment of migrants and refugees to the Global South and sets a distance between the state and the "refugee". Using a transnational feminist framework, and through the analysis of secondary sources, official documents, and previous studies, I focus on how Australia, the US, and the EU deploy bordering mechanisms—including punitive forms of enforcement—and how the resulting assemblage reinforces the prevailing neocolonial structure not only vis-à-vis who is allowed to enter these Western regions, but also within the relationship these Western countries establish with third countries. This paper makes several contributions to the scholarship on critical refugee studies, migration and immigration detention, and critical border studies.