Refugees, 'illegal immigrants' and asylum seekers : use of discursive categories and legitimation of asylum policies in Greek political discourse

Abstract

It has been noted that the categorisation of migrants into distinct categories and the hardening of the boundaries between these categories has been a significant part of European policy and discourse in immigration and asylum (Lewis and Neal, 2005). While this can be seen as a consequence of the inadequacy of the Geneva Convention definition of refugees in the current socio-political context, it also serves the objectives of EU and state policies of controlling migration and preventing irregular immigration. An example of this trend includes the r e-categorisation of asylum seekers as illegal immigrants, which, as Story (2005:17) argues, 'is a meaningful discursive act, with important repercussions for how asylum seekers and unauthorised migrants are perceived and acted upon.' Irregular migrants have been criminalised and constructed as a threat to the security of the state, a discursive move which legitimates restrictive policies (den Boer, 1996; Humphrey, 2003; Story, 2005). The aim of this paper is, firstly, to examine the employment of the categories 'asylum seeker' 'refugee' and 'illegal immigrant' in Greek political discourse, taking into account domestic as well as European factors. Secondly, it considers its social effects at the discursive level, especially with regards to the legitimation of restrictive policies and the denial of protection to forced migrants.