This episode with Dr. Sefa Secen took place on April 27th 2023 covered human security in the context of forced migration with examples from the Middle East. State security focuses on borders and protecting the state as an entity. While on the other hand, human security puts the emphasis on the things that allow us to maintain our lives as human beings, such as economic security, freedom of movement, shelter, and in general the things that make our lives liveable. The two perspectives on security can contradict each other. For example when closing borders puts migrants’ lives in danger. We explored the implications of national discourses on the security of migrants in various countries, especially impacts on Syrian migrants in Turkey and Germany. Implications for immigrants’ freedom to move, freedom to work, freedom from being expelled, and other rights. Discourses can also shift public attitudes towards immigrants and their experience in host societies.
Secen is a postdoctoral fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and a research fellow on the Islamic Family Law Index Project. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University in July 2022. His general research interests include forced migration, human and minority rights, international security, the Middle East, and qualitative and multi-method research. In particular, he studies the politics of forced migration with a focus on the social construction of threat and security perceptions. His research has been published in the Journal of Global Security Studies, European Politics and Society, Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, and Forced Migration Review. He has also written in the Washington Post’s Made by History blog and E-International Relations.
Special thanks to Rahma Anjum for editing this episode.
To follow Dr. Secen’s work check out his website and twitter:
https://sefasecen.weebly.com/
Tweets by SefaSecen3