The concept of human security provides a useful lens for examining the European migrant crisis. Human security attempts to broadly redefine the idea of security. Rather than emphasizing territory and sovereignty, human security shifts the focus of security to an individual level of analysis. The Human Development Report of 1994, issued by the UN Development Programme, outlined seven areas which comprise the concept of human security.
Economic security provides for basic income for all people. Food security requires sufficient physical and economic access to food. Health security guarantees protection from diseases and unhealthy ways of life. Environmental security provides protection from the dangers of nature, including man-made threats and the deterioration of the global environment. Personal security suggests individuals are free from all threats of violence. Community security protects people from losing important relationships and values. Political security stems from the assurance that society honors basic human rights and protects basic freedom.
Migrants fleeing to Europe come seeking human security. These immigrants are in search of economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security. However, some government actors view the migrant crisis through the lens of national security rather than human security. Across the world, officials are securitizing immigration. "We used to think of migration as a human security issue: protecting people and providing assistance," said Khalid Koser - a Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution think tank. "Now we clearly perceive - or misperceive - migration as a national security issue. And the risk of securitizing migration is that you risk legitimizing extraordinary responses." An extraordinary response may be necessary to remedy the human rights issue at stake in Europe.
Source: http://www.cfr.org/migration/europes-migration-crisis/p32874, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911
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