Criminal Deportations to the Pacific: Securitisation & De-securitisation

PLEASE NOTE: This is a hybrid event and will take place in-person as well as on Zoom.

Criminal deportations to the Pacific have increased significantly over the last decade. In this final presentation prior to submitting her PhD, Henrietta McNeill provides an examination of deportations to Tonga, Samoa and Cook Islands. She tracks securitisation throughout the deportation process, including in the country and society of citizenship. In doing so, she draws attention to the challenges that deported people face on their return, the reintegration models in place to support them, and the language which shapes this return. Deportations have been raised at the Pacific regional level, enabling an ongoing and pervasive influence on securitisation by deporting states, but also an opportunity for Pacific states to use securitisation as a tool of agency and empowerment to encourage deporting states to take responsibility for their role in deportations.