The Impact of Governance and Judicial Policies in the Criminalization of Humanitarian Aid Operations in the European Union.

In the European Union, the challenges surrounding migration are increasingly becoming more hostile towards both migrants and the organizations that help them. For years, the EU has worked to balance supranational and intergovernmental policies specifically in the realm of migration, due to states having varying priorities contingent on location, GDP and governments. One of the realms of governance that has fallen short is in the Mediterranean, with large numbers of migrant fatalities during boat crossings taking place. In response, NGOs operating sea rescue initiatives in the Mediterranean, have increased the volume of their operations to address a high number of deaths. As a result of the influx of migration into the EU, the union, as well as individual states, have enacted strict policies of management. The increase in migrants has changed both the governance of migration as well as the role the judiciary plays in migration, which highlights the shortcoming of states when it comes to compliance with UN and EU protocols. The EU has also worked hard to build relationships with their border security force, Frontex, and neighboring states, to minimize migrants entering the union. The emphasis on this type of governance led to a shift towards securitization policies in the EU and its states. The shift resulted in an increase in pressure on state judicial systems, who are experiencing an uptake in migration related cases in their regional and lower courts. The EU and NGOs are both running simultaneous operations in the Mediterranean with the goal of saving lives, with the EU also trying to minimize migration by enacting securitization policies. One of the most evident results of the securitization shift is the Italian government's targeting of NGOs. This is the outcome of NGOs refusing to participate in Italy's investigations into migrant smuggling operations. The investigations into the NGOs frame the organizations in the courts and media as smugglers with the intention of causing harm within the community. Instead of properly litigating, Italy is manipulating the court system to keep humanitarian aid cases in lower, more regional courts with less resources and less supranational oversight. The judicial section of the paper focuses on the complexity of compliance with UN, EU and state legal protocols and ratifications, which all play an important role in the analysis. The criminalization of humanitarian aid is the center of this thesis and can be best understood by investigating both the governance sector and the judicial implications of the court cases analyzed, the cases of the Iuventa and the Sea Watch 3, both sea rescue organizations investigated for facilitating smuggling into Italy. The attempt to use the judicial system to manage migrant governance is the start of a concerning trend and the thesis presents evidence of state action to dissuade and limit humanitarian aid operations. The erosion of migrant governance in the UN and its member states has put immense pressure on the judicial system, which in turn has impacted the basic functions of democracy in Italy.