‘Human beings should not be deported’
The horn of Africa’s hegemon contests the EU’s norm to readmit
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24226252 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tefera Negash Gebregziabher (0000-0003-3889-7979, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Erlend Paasche (0000-0002-8344-7881, Equality, Inclusion and Migration Research Group, Institute for Social Research, Oslo), Wil Hout (0000-0002-4470-0653, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 16 |
| Pages | 4281-4298 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | New Community (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1369183x.2026.2633670 |
| OpenAlex | W7141460882 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 29 |
Returning rejected asylum seekers to their origin states is high on the policy agenda of the EU and European governments. Using norms and role theory, this article examines how Ethiopian public officers normatively understand return and readmission as well as their country’s role expectations. We find that while Assisted Voluntary Return is met with relative acceptance, forced return is condemned and viewed as illegitimate. Illustrating the inter-role conflict between Ethiopia and EU countries, four themes are used to frame and delegitimize return and readmission. First, state agents see Ethiopia as a benefactor protecting citizens abroad by non-collaboration on their readmission as well as by actively bringing suffering citizens back ‘home’. Second, Ethiopia’s culture and history of hospitality towards people on the move is contrasted to Europe’s deportations. Third, the legality and morality of readmission is questioned, largely irrespective of formal policy and often invoking human rights as a meta-norm to frame return and readmission as immoral and inappropriate. Finally, European governments’ policy and practice of forced return is generally framed as inappropriate and inhumane. These delegitimizing themes stem from role conceptions of Ethiopia as a regional hegemon and are fed by role enactments on the part of the Ethiopian state.
assisted voluntary return · asylum seekers · delegitimization · Deportation · EU asylum policy · forced return · Horn of Africa · Hospitality · human rights framing · normative understanding · regional hegemony · role theory · European Law and Migration · Gender and Women's Rights · Migration, Refugees, and Integration
Dynamics and perspectives of norms compliance in the Germany–Albania readmission process
International norm dynamics in return and readmission
Changing norms in EU return policy? A longitudinal analysis of commission documents on return
Norms, not just interests
Role Theory in International Relations
Theme development in qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis
The Deportation Regime
A realist approach to thematic analysis
Vulnerable Here or There? Examining the vulnerability of victims of human trafficking before and after return
Unpacking domestic preferences in the policy-‘receiving’ state
Embracing complexity in ‘Southern’ migration governance
The politicization and framing of migration in West Africa
Beyond the insider–outsider divide in migration research
What Isn't a Norm? Redefining the Conceptual Boundaries of “Norms” in the Human Rights Literature
EU-Algeria (non)cooperation on migration
Protective exclusion as a postcolonial strategy
Postcolonial challenges to migration control
The EU's ‘return rate’ with third countries
Ideology, grand strategy and the rise and decline of Ethiopia's regional status
Migratising’ mobility
Chessboard politics
National Role Conceptions in the Study of Foreign Policy
International Norm Dynamics and Political Change
Regional power and contested hierarchy
Regional Hegemony
Return migration as a win-win-win scenario? Visions of return among Senegalese migrants, the state of origin and receiving countries
| Citations per year | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |