Are Walls Just for Show? Examining Whether Border Barriers Affect Refugee flows

• In Event: Poster Session: International Security III & Migration and Citizenship
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Migration and Citizenship

Abstract

What is the effect of border barriers on refugee flows? The explosion of construction in border barriers since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States has been motivated by the belief that they reduce immigration and can provide national security. The foundational claim that border barriers reduce migration flow magnitudes, however, lacks empirical support. Therefore, we test this claim with a new global directed-dyad-year dataset. Our dataset includes all contiguous dyads for the 1980-2016 time period, as well as non-contiguous dyads for the four closest non-contiguous neighbors to each country as calculated by spatial weights matrices in ArcGIS. Despite using numerous model specifications, we fail to find significant effects for border barriers on refugee flows between contiguous or non-contiguous dyads. Instead, the prospect of improving personal security and transit country characteristics drive refugee flows. Our findings suggest that border barriers may appease anti-immigration activists and appease right-wing parties, but they do not affect migration flows. This paper thereby contributes to research on migration, refugees, human rights, and international security.

Authors

• Justin Schon, University of Florida

• David Leblang, University of Virginia