The management of African asylum seekers in Israel Sharon Weinblum, FNRS Postdoctoral Fellow, Université libre de Bruxelles Between 2005 and 2013, more than 50 000 migrants from Sudan and Eritrea crossed the Egyptian border to seek refuge in Israel. Originally perceived as survivors of genocide entitled to protection, African migrants soon entered the language of insecurity and criminality in political and legal arenas. The crossing of the Egyptian-Israeli border by these migrants became an object of concern, and exclusionary policies have been deployed since. In the paper she will present, Sharon Weinblum explores how political actors broadly understood have justified and contested these policies. In particular, it investigates the construction of three main policy instruments implemented by the Israel government: detention, deportation and securitisation of the border. The paper argues that these instruments have been constructed as tools of ordering, control and sovereignty, a construction which has been central in their imposition and legitimisation. The paper suggests that in such conditions, those opposing the exclusionary asylum policies have struggled to articulate an effective alternative discourse.Time: 12.00