Abstract. The impact of NSAs such as organized armed groups, organized crime groups and terrorist groups on MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region is twofold. They fuel instability, crime, violence, and armed conflicts in the region and turn into push factors, if not means or vehicle, for illegal migration towards Europe where it is often perceived, right or wrong, as a serious threat to security. The EU response to migration is therefore evolving as well as the related security policies. Following decades of strong and wide protection of human rights in any situation, European States are seeking for a new and different balance between human rights and security. It seems as if States are nowadays ready to trade some political idealism and legal functionalism in the field of migration and human rights for more political pragmatism and legal formalism in the field of security. Some clues are emblematic of this new approach of security marked by some US-style features such as a more limited judicial review and a formalistic interpretation and application of the law. Even if, for the time being, Europe has substantially stayed true to a high standard of human rights protection, the quest for more security by Governments might set them on a collision course with supranational Courts and their functionalist approach to human rights protection.

 

Keywords: non-State actors and illegal migration, security and human rights; European and US approaches to security, non-State actors’ impact on MENA region and EU, new EU security policies.