This study examines the representation of migrants on German television during the migrant crisis in autumn 2015. Further it investigates circumstances and actors in the representation of migrants. A case study of two asylum seekers from Syria is presented who were often interviewed for television reports. A qualitative interview about the background of their media representation was conducted and some of the television material was analysed. In addition three journalists from large television stations in Germany were interviewed about their work as correspondent during the migrant crisis. A main finding is that migrants were predominantly represented as well-educated and outspoken. A circumstance for this was language barrier between the journalists and migrants who often needed to talk English, which narrowed the group of potential interviewees. Another finding was that reports and reporters tended to emphasized women and children even though the majority of migrants was male.

This thesis is a qualitative study focusing on the situation that has evolved in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from the beginning of 2018, when migrants and refugees started entering the country in large numbers in the context of the so-called Balkan route. The approach adopted in the thesis is informed by critical studies emphasizing the asymmetries entailed in the emerging multilevel governance of migration. The European Union (EU), the BiH state, IOM, civil society, activists, and citizens, are inserted in a “situational map” presenting their inter-relations, and the potential of each to influence the situation of concern. This thesis analyses in details the role of the EU, which is implementing in BiH its security-informed approach to irregular migration through externalization and multilevelling strategies. Eight semi-structured interviews allow the investigation into the potential and challenges of a “governance from below”. The main argument of this thesis is that the EU, outsourcing its strategy to curb irregular migration to BiH, fails to address the humanitarian crisis that is developing there, besides mining the stability and democracy of the country.