FRONTex SECURITY

Hans-Werner Kroesinger | Germany

After 9/11, security has become one of the main topics of the 21st century. Today, Germany and Europe are no longer just being defended in Afghanistan, but also in the Mediterranean. In order to manage borders and control the movement of migrants effectively, the EU has founded an agency called Frontex, which makes it extremely difficult for asylum seekers to even reach Europe. Hans-Werner Kroesinger, a grandmaster of documentary theatre, places the work of Frontex in a historical context and traces the many branches and offshoots of a growing industry that “only follows orders from above”. Nowadays, we are supposed to make a distinction between “economic migrants” and “political asylum seekers” in order to separate the deserving from the undeserving cases. During the second half of the evening, the audience is invited backstage, where they sit in the glistening light of Lampedusa and watch the actors playing “battleship”. Is security only valid when it focuses inwardly, but not when it aids the refugees seeking help? What do you think would happen if we opened up the borders?