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Transit States and the Thickening of Borders

Gregory White

in Climate Change and Migration: Security and Borders in a Warming World

This chapter treats North Africa, known in Arabic as the Maghreb. The chapter focuses on Morocco as a way of illuminating the role of transit states situated “in-between” sending and receiving ... More

This chapter treats North Africa, known in Arabic as the Maghreb. The chapter focuses on Morocco as a way of illuminating the role of transit states situated “in-between” sending and receiving dynamics. Admittedly, “transit state” is a bit of a misnomer, as migrants are more often blocked and not really in transit. Nonetheless, the label as “host country” or “country of immigration” does not work either; the new population does not comprise immigrants who are seeking to settle, as is the case in advanced-industrialized economies. Chapter 4 treats the politics of CIM within a transit state and the ways in which CIM is used to “reborder” a country, cement territorial claims, and control the national space. CIM is also used by transit states as a bargaining chip to enhance the status of their own emigrants—both legal and undocumented—living in North Atlantic countries. Finally, chapter 4 treats the ways in which CIM enhances collaboration between North Atlantic and transit state officials and facilitates the elaboration of a transnational security state—that is, the internationalization of security apparatuses and interior ministries.Less

A New Convivencia

Sasha D. Pack

in The Deepest Border: The Strait of Gibraltar and the Making of the Modern Hispano-African Borderland

This chapter looks at Spanish administration of northern Morocco after the Rif War. As the physical border between Spain and Morocco disintegrated, Spanish colonial administrators looked for ways to ... More

This chapter looks at Spanish administration of northern Morocco after the Rif War. As the physical border between Spain and Morocco disintegrated, Spanish colonial administrators looked for ways to promote “Hispano-Moroccan brotherhood” while preserving religious, social, and sexual boundaries between Moroccan Muslims, Jews, and Spanish settlers. While much scholarship in this area has been dedicated to exposing the Spanish colonial rhetoric of brotherhood to be a ruse, this chapter takes seriously the notion that the Spanish colonial administration attempted to distinguish itself from its French counterpart—even to the point of weakening the positions of the sovereign Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla. It aimed to demonstrate greater respect for local customs and traditions and to elevate the zone’s Muslim “caliph” to the status of sovereign, although in other ways its practices resembled the French model.Less

The End of a Modern Borderland

Sasha D. Pack

in The Deepest Border: The Strait of Gibraltar and the Making of the Modern Hispano-African Borderland

This chapter discusses the post-World War II reconfiguration of ethno-religious relations that put an end to the modern trans-Gibraltar borderland society as it had developed over the previous ... More

This chapter discusses the post-World War II reconfiguration of ethno-religious relations that put an end to the modern trans-Gibraltar borderland society as it had developed over the previous century. Jews and Europeans departed Morocco in haste in the 1950s, their safety increasingly uncertain. Spain waged a protracted campaign to recover Gibraltar from Great Britain, closing the border by 1969. Although the effort failed, it put an end to Gibraltar’s role as a hub for traffic and circulation around the Strait for over a century. New currents of migration brought Africans northward, making Spain substantially multiconfessional for the first time in its modern history. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the new regional conjuncture and some remarks about the historical changes and continuities over the previous centuries.Less

Building Fortress Europe

David Scott FitzGerald

in Refuge beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers

The European Union since the 1990s has been engaged in a unique project of reducing mobility controls between members while strengthening the external borders and then shifting control outward. The ... More

The European Union since the 1990s has been engaged in a unique project of reducing mobility controls between members while strengthening the external borders and then shifting control outward. The individual pieces of the remote control strategies themselves are common, with the exception of the Frontex external border control coordinating agency, which does not have parallels in the North American or Australian cases. Europeanization has cross-cutting effects on remote control. The ubiquity of policies rooted in law, regulations, or formal agreements with other states—around readmission, visas, carrier sanctions, safe third countries, and safe countries of origin—is a result of Europeanization. However, Europeanization also includes built-in constraints derived from its supranational courts and institutions.Less

ʿAzafid Ceuta, Mawlid al-Nabī and the Development of Marīnid Strategies of Legitimation*

James A. O. C. Brown

in The Articulation of Power in Medieval Iberia and the Maghrib

This chapter assesses the development of mawlid al-nabī as a public ceremony in Morocco in the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries, from its origin in Ceuta to its subsequent adoption by the Marīnids. ... More

This chapter assesses the development of mawlid al-nabī as a public ceremony in Morocco in the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries, from its origin in Ceuta to its subsequent adoption by the Marīnids. Although it is often assumed that the Marīnids adopted existing religious norms to achieve greater religiopolitical credibility, in this case the meaning and significance of mawlid were contested, showing that the development of understandings of legitimacy are not transferred simply from one group to another, but are formed by the process of interaction. Although the adoption of the mawlid is often associated with the growth of Sufism and sharīfism, the development of the festival was also closely related to the reassertion of Mālikī orthodoxy around this period, and was therefore useful for the Marīnids to symbolise their support for a spectrum of religious tendencies. It also allowed for a symbolic assertion of Islamic identity when the reality of growing Christian power created increasing challenges for Muslim rulers.Less

Ways across the Sea, 1160–1185

David Abulafia

in The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean

There are no diaries or log-books of sea captains from the twelfth century, but there are vivid accounts of crossing the Mediterranean written by Jewish ... More

There are no diaries or log-books of sea captains from the twelfth century, but there are vivid accounts of crossing the Mediterranean written by Jewish and Muslim pilgrims journeying from Spain to the East. Benjamin of Tudela was a rabbi from a town in Navarre, and he set out on his travels around 1160. The aim of his diary was to describe the lands of the Mediterranean, large areas of Europe, and Asia as far as China, in Hebrew for a Jewish audience, and he carefully noted the number of Jews in each town he visited. His book reports genuine travels across the Mediterranean, through Constantinople and down the coast of Syria, though his descriptions of more remote areas beyond the Mediterranean are clearly based on report and rumour, which became more fantastic the further his imagination ventured. He evidently did go to Jerusalem, though, and expressed his wonderment at the supposed tomb of King David on Mount Zion. As Christian passions about the Holy Land became more intense, the attention of Jewish pilgrims was also directed there, under the influence of the crusaders whom they scorned. Benjamin’s route took him down from Navarre through the kingdom of Aragon and along the river Ebro to Tarragona, where the massive ancient fortifications built by ‘giants and Greeks’ impressed him. From there he moved to Barcelona, ‘a small city and beautiful’, full of wise rabbis and of merchants from every land, including Greece, Pisa, Genoa, Sicily, Alexandria, the Holy Land and Africa. Benjamin provides precious and precocious evidence that Barcelona was beginning to develop contacts across the Mediterranean. Another place that attracted merchants from all over the world, even, he says, from England, was Montpellier; ‘people of all nations are found there doing business through the medium of the Genoese and Pisans’. It took four days to reach Genoa by sea from Marseilles. Genoa, he wrote, ‘is surrounded by a wall, and the inhabitants are not governed by any king, but by judges whom they appoint at their pleasure’. He also insisted that ‘they have command of the sea’. Less

Encouragement to Others, 1650–1780

David Abulafia

in The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean

In the course of the seventeenth century the character of the relationship between the European states changed dramatically, with important repercussions ... More

In the course of the seventeenth century the character of the relationship between the European states changed dramatically, with important repercussions in the Mediterranean. Until the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648, Catholic confronted Protestant, and confessional identity was an issue of surpassing significance for the competing powers in Europe. After 1648, a greater degree of political realism, or cynical calculation, began to intrude. Within a few years, it was possible for the English arch-Protestant Oliver Cromwell to cooperate with the Spanish king, while English suspicion of the Dutch led to conflict in the North Sea. The character of English involvement in the Mediterranean changed: royal fleets began to intervene and the English (after union with Scotland in 1707, the British) sought out permanent bases in the western Mediterranean: first Tangier, then Gibraltar, Minorca and, in 1800, Malta. The period from 1648 to the Napoleonic Wars was marked, therefore, by frequent about-turns as the English switched from Spanish to French alliances, and as the whole question of the Spanish royal succession divided Europe and opened up the prospect of spoils from a declining Spanish empire in the Mediterranean. While Spain’s difficulties were obvious, it was less clear that the Ottomans had passed their peak: the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 was unsuccessful, but in the Mediterranean Turkish galleys still posed a serious threat, and their Barbary allies could be relied upon to give support when naval conflict broke out. Even so, the Venetians managed to gain control of the Morea or Peloponnese for several years, and, interestingly, it was they who were the aggressors. Bolder than they had been for some time, the Venetians ambitiously aimed to crack Turkish power in the regions closest to their navigation routes. In 1685 and 1686 they captured and demolished a number of Turkish fortresses on either side of the Morea, culminating in the capture of Nafplion on 30 August 1686. This was only the prelude to an attempt to clean up the Dalmatian coast, starting with the Turkish base at Herceg Novi, which they captured in September 1687. Less

The Impact of the Enclaves on Spanish–Moroccan Relations

in Europe or Africa?: A Contemporary Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

This chapter examines the impact of the dispute over the enclaves on the relationship between Spain and Morocco. The extent to which the issue is at the forefront or in the background of their ... More

This chapter examines the impact of the dispute over the enclaves on the relationship between Spain and Morocco. The extent to which the issue is at the forefront or in the background of their relationship is in large measure determined by whether at any given time political or economic considerations are paramount in Morocco.Less

The Enclaves within the Spanish State: The Autonomy Statutes

in Europe or Africa?: A Contemporary Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

This chapter discusses the constitutional relationship between the enclaves and the rest of Spain, and their struggle to gain autonomy. The difficulties and the length of time which it took for the ... More

This chapter discusses the constitutional relationship between the enclaves and the rest of Spain, and their struggle to gain autonomy. The difficulties and the length of time which it took for the Spanish government to grant the enclaves their autonomous status suggest that it is unlikely that these towns would enjoy the same powers as other communities under the Spanish Constitution in the near future. Thus, the enclaves can continue to claim that they are discriminated against as the only Spanish citizens who are not part of an autonomous community. However, it is true that, compared to other towns of similar size elsewhere in Europe, they have a great deal more autonomy than most.Less

The Evolving Political Landscape in the Enclaves

in Europe or Africa?: A Contemporary Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

This chapter surveys the impact, on both national and local elections, of the relationship between the Spanish community in the enclaves and the central government in Madrid. It examines the ... More

This chapter surveys the impact, on both national and local elections, of the relationship between the Spanish community in the enclaves and the central government in Madrid. It examines the emergence of the Muslim community as a political force in local elections as well as the rise of the Grupo Independiente Liberal (GIL) party in both towns and the political crises that it caused. Both phenomena are clear manifestations of the peculiar circumstance of the enclaves within the Spanish state.Less

Four the 1985 Immigration Law and Community Relations in the Enclaves

in Europe or Africa?: A Contemporary Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

This chapter examines the uneasy relationship between the residents of Spanish and Moroccan origin within the enclaves; the growing militancy of the Muslim-Berber communities (especially in Melilla) ... More

This chapter examines the uneasy relationship between the residents of Spanish and Moroccan origin within the enclaves; the growing militancy of the Muslim-Berber communities (especially in Melilla) under the leadership of Aomar Dudú; and the tensions between those communities in the enclaves and the government in Madrid, especially after the introduction of the 1985 Immigration Law. The ensuing civil disturbances reveal the Madrid government's failure to understand the nature of the communities in the enclaves and how to resolve their problems.Less

The Enclaves: A Migration Gateway to Europe

in Europe or Africa?: A Contemporary Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

As the only territories that provide a land border between the EU and Africa, Ceuta and Melilla are magnets for would-be illegal migrants to continental Europe from all over the African continent. ... More

As the only territories that provide a land border between the EU and Africa, Ceuta and Melilla are magnets for would-be illegal migrants to continental Europe from all over the African continent. Because the towns have a unique position, this chapter examines the specific role of the North African enclaves in illegal immigration. However, because illegal immigration is symptomatic of the whole south–north migration process, the part played by the enclaves is placed in the wider context of the immigration issue between Africa and Europe.Less

The Enclaves: Europe or Africa?

in Europe or Africa?: A Contemporary Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

This chapter examines the ways in which Ceuta and Melilla, given their anomalous and unique situation, are – or are not – viewed as parts of Europe, and considers how these enclaves are viewed in ... More

This chapter examines the ways in which Ceuta and Melilla, given their anomalous and unique situation, are – or are not – viewed as parts of Europe, and considers how these enclaves are viewed in terms of their economy, defence, sports, EU directives, and EU parliamentary elections.Less

Gibraltar and the Enclaves

in Europe or Africa?: A Contemporary Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

This chapter considers the parallels and contrasts between the Spanish enclaves in North Africa and the British-dependent territory of Gibraltar. Just as Morocco wants Spain to transfer the ... More

This chapter considers the parallels and contrasts between the Spanish enclaves in North Africa and the British-dependent territory of Gibraltar. Just as Morocco wants Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, Spain has been pressing for the reintegration of Gibraltar into Spanish territory. One major difference between Gibraltar and the enclaves is that demographic changes are minimal in the former but potentially significant in the latter. Although the origins of Gibraltarians may be diverse, the population has set its mind firmly against becoming part of Spain. By contrast, not only has there been an influx of Moroccans into the enclaves during the past century, but the birth rate of those Muslim Spaniards now living there is much higher than that of the cristiano population. There may come a day when the Muslim population is in the majority, and while there is no incentive for them to want to become part of Morocco so long as there remains a significant disparity in the standard of living between Morocco and the enclaves, the situation could change if and when that differential is sufficiently narrowed.Less

Conclusion: Looking to the Future

in Europe or Africa?: A Contemporary Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

This concluding chapter summarizes the main themes covered in the preceding discussions. These include the relations between Spain and Morocco, autonomy statutes, political consequences, community ... More

This concluding chapter summarizes the main themes covered in the preceding discussions. These include the relations between Spain and Morocco, autonomy statutes, political consequences, community relations, immigration, and parallels and differences between the enclaves and Gibraltar.Less

The Shaping of Policy

Martin A. Schain

in The Border: Policy and Politics in Europe and the United States

This chapter explores patterns of policy enforcement of the variable border: where it is enforced and with what effectiveness. Policies reflect intentions to control migration patterns across the ... More

This chapter explores patterns of policy enforcement of the variable border: where it is enforced and with what effectiveness. Policies reflect intentions to control migration patterns across the variable border, and to shape and constrain how the border actually functions. The chapter examines how the implementation of border controls reshapes policy on the ground. Control appears to be effective on both sides of the Atlantic. At the same time, a large number of migrants have gained access for long-term residence. Effective controls have shaped migration, but have also permitted large numbers of immigrants to enter from year to year. Most decision-making on entry has been externalized to countries of origin, where most people desiring to enter are granted visas. Most rejections are at land and sea ports, in part because these applications for admission are made for asylum, which is governed by more demanding rules and a different process.Less