Two key concepts that intertwine throughout the text are immigration control and the autonomy of migration. It is important to emphasize that in practice, the former is a response to the latter and not the other way around. The concept of the autonomy of migration makes it possible to consider refugees and migrants without resorting to victimization and security discourse. Control is broken down by presenting typical discourses (the distinction between refugees and economic migrants, security discourse, victim discourse, asylum abuse) and countermeasures (incarcerating “illegal” migrants and the externalization of European borders). The main argument is that in practice, immigration control blocks not only the autonomy of migration, but also the system of international protection (asylum). These concepts and practices are reflected in Europe’s externalized borders – “buffer zones” which are supposed to support the European asylum system and also protect the EU from migrations. The paper views practices in these buffer zones from the perspective of the autonomy of migration, and thus goes beyond the narrow framework of oppression and the ineffective system of protection.Avtonomija in nadzor migracij v evropskih »tamponskih conah«Dva ključna koncepta, s pomočjo katerih avtorici v članku mislita migracije in se prepletata skozi celotno besedilo, sta nadzor nad priseljevanjem in avtonomija migracij, pri čemer poudarita, da je v praksi prvi odgovor na drugega in ne obratno. Koncept avtonomije migracij omogoča razumeti begunce/begunke in migrante/migrantke onstran viktimizacije in varnostnega diskurza. Nadzor razčlenita s pomočjo prikaza tipičnih diskurzov (ločevanje beguncev in ekonomskih migrantov, varnostni diskurz, diskurz žrtve, zloraba azila) in značilnih ukrepov (zapiranje »nelegalnih« migrantov in eksternalizacija evropskih meja). Ključni argument je, da v praksi nadzor nad priseljevanjem ne blokira le avtonomije migracij, temveč tudi sistem mednarodne zaščite. Omenjeni koncepti in prakse se odslikavajo na eksternaliziranih evropskih mejah – »tamponskih conah« – ki naj bi prevzele evropski sistem mednarodne zaščite ter varovale EU pred migracijami. Prakse v »tamponskih conah« avtorici obravnavata s perspektive avtonomije migracij, torej tudi onstran zatiranja in neučinkovitega sistema zaščite
