This paper focuses on the Evros anti-immigrant fence that is being constructed on the EU Greek-Turkish external border as the most recent manifestation of external border control. The fence signifies the move from preventive to a repressive approach to illegal migration, from one that deals with root causes of migration to one that aims at curbing illegal migration by taking measures at the external borders. The fence also has made apparent the inherent contradiction between the securitization of migration and the human rights principles that the EU defends. While not exhausting the entire range of possible explanations, this paper focuses on two main aspects for analyzing the situation in Greece: the securitization of migration and the increasing concern with the external border control (through FRONTEX) on the one hand, and the institutional aspects of the EU asylum policy that has proven its incompatibility with human rights on the other.
