Push and back: The ripple effect of EU border externalisation from Croatia to Iran

Pushbacks have become a key feature of EU migration controls since 2015. As this article argues, practices pushbacks stretch from spaces, such as Croatia, to its external borders and neighbouring countries, reaching far Iran. Although pushback tactics their consequences are widely discussed in public, activist, policy debates, by refugees themselves; academic literature has limited engagement with effects. To address gap, we set up the concepts “push” “back” question ripple effect informal violent border that occurs transversely multiple geopolitical contexts timelines migratory journeys. The draws on ethnographic fieldwork two locations: Croatian Bosnia-Herzegovina Turkey-Iran border. We argue EU’s governance encourages identical different locations. show “pushes” generate multi-layered violence enmeshed local security (and at times militarized) when people “back”; or forcibly returned starting analysis contributes externalisation violence, which examine through inside outside EU.