12 research outputs found
âStreet-levelâ agents operating beyond âremote controlâ: how overseas liaison officers and foreign state officials shape UK extraterritorial migration management
Extraterritorial migration management perspectives on how states try to enforce immigration controls beyond their juridical borders are strongly influenced by âremote controlâ metaphors. This is conceptually limited and outdated. Most research fails to sufficiently acknowledge agency by a destination state's officials acting abroad, foreign states and their officials, when evaluating extraterritorial measures and âoutcomesâ. We study UK liaison officers abroad, specifically, how they see their efforts to implement extraterritorial immigration control through interactions with foreign state officials. Our approach links inter-state relations to the social world of on-the-ground âstreet-levelâ interactions between officers abroad and their foreign counterparts. The empirical analysis draws from original interviews and official sources. We compare factors accounting for the UK's activities and perceived âoutcomesâ across USA, France, Thailand, Egypt and Ghana. Findings show the UK's extraterritorial migration management results from a very long chain of decisions and actions, by foreign and UK state actors, operating at different institutional-levels, with uncontrollable local circumstances abroad. Realising extraterritorial goals depends strongly on liaison officersâ agency, âsoft powerâ over foreign officials and foreign officialsâ willingness to cooperate. Meanwhile liaison officersâ âfeedbacksâ importantly influence Home Office decision-making. Against the simplistic one-way causality of âremote controlâ, this is âstreet-levelâ agency beyond âremote controlâ