The human (in)security trap: how European border(ing) practices condemn migrants to vulnerability

Abstract This article explores the experience of migrants at Europe’s borders and beyond building upon notion human security—or rather its antithesis insecurity—and looking it afresh through lenses border studies. It introduces concept ‘human insecurity trap’ as a tool to grasp insecurities vulnerabilities people-on-the-move different border(ing)s, barriers confinements they stem from. The argues that smuggling across Europe, well EU MS policy apparatus, entraps into spiral which unfolds levels borders: sea, in ongoing struggle between smugglers counter-smuggling operations; state border, where bureaucratic limbo (mis)management shipwrecked asylum-seekers variously contend combine with populist anti-migrant discourse; EU, practices ‘re-smuggling’ ‘secondary movement’ compete mobility limits, returns closures.