As states seek to better protect their mainland territory from the threat of illegal migration, outlying islands are increasingly being used to create buffer zones against would-be human traffickers and refugees. Canada Research Chair in Global Migration Studies, Alison Mountz, explains this phenomena in detail, and suggests that detention centres such as those on Guantanamo Bay and Christmas Island are a populist overreaction to the territorial threat posed by maritime incursions. She goes on to say that the governance of such centres is dubious, given their offshore status and efforts to dissociate them from national jurisdictions.