Securitization of European Union's immigration policy in 2021 German Federal Elections

The phenomenon of international immigration has been one of the important issues both at the international and local level for many years. In Europe, especially after the Second World War, immigration has become a controversial issue in international politics. After the Second World War, while immigration was considered necessary to improve the deteriorating economy of Europe, after the 1970s, immigration began to be limited and border controls were strengthened. This can be clearly seen in the immigration policies developed by the European Union. In 2015, Europe faced a serious immigration crisis. This situation occurred as a result of the 2011 Syrian civil war and affected both the European continent and the EU. As a result, asylum applications to the EU have increased. In particular, as an EU member state, Germany has been the first country in Europe to receive the highest number of asylum applications. In this process, Germany is of vital importance as the EU's country that receives the most Syrian immigration. Therefore, the securitization of immigration policy in the EU has had implications for Germany's immigration policy. In the changing world agenda with the climate and the COVID-19 crisis, what will be unique for this study is the ability to understand the role of securitization on immigration in the 2021 German Federal elections. To do this, the immigration policies of the EU and Germany will be examined and the election manifestos of the political parties on immigration in the 2021 German federal elections will be analized. Thus, this thesis aims to question whether immigration in Germany is securitized or not. While making this analysis, securitization theory and speech act methodology developed by the Copenhagen School were used.