National Security and Refugee Protection: Critical Comparative Analysis of the Cases of the European Union, the United States and South Africa

Why are refugees increasingly treated as security threats? This book invites you to look beyond migration “crises” and examine how law and policy actively securitize refugees and asylum seekers. Through a critical comparative analysis of the European Union, the United States, and South Africa, you see how security logics reshape asylum systems, restrict rights, and redistribute responsibility. Drawing on international law and critical social science perspectives, the book reveals the legal techniques, political actors, and historical legacies that normalize exceptional measures against vulnerable groups. It offers a timely and original contribution to debates on migration governance, refugee protection, and international order.