ABSTRACT
Southern Europe’s most recent migration history is closely linked to Europe’s major immigration crises. It was the migration crisis caused by the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the war in ex-Yugoslavia that first highlighted the crucial role played by Southern European countries in protecting Europe’s external borders. As the new ‘guardians’ of the border following the implementation of the Schengen Agreement, they were confronted prima facie with tensions between ‘internal security considerations and humanitarian issues’ (Lavenex 2001: 852) by having to stop the entry of unwanted migrants while simultaneously guaranteeing humanitarian protection standards for refugees. As Schuster (2011: 17) put it, a heavy burden fell on the member states ‘least equipped to cope’ with the new migration challenge due to their recent migration history and lack of efficient asylum regimes.
