This paper provides an overview of complementary forms of protection applied in Europe since 1999. It argues, firstly, that as with refugee status, this protection is more political than needs-focussed. Secondly, it shows that some of the issues raised in the post-2015 era are more long-standing.
Paper long abstract
This paper provides an overview of complementary forms of protection applied in Europe since 1999. It argues, firstly, that as with refugee status, this protection is more political than needs-focussed. Secondly, it shows that some of the issues raised in the post-2015 period, dubbed as 'crisis' are actually long-standing. Therefore, one of the aims of the paper is to contribute to the discussion about the political import of 'crisis' discourse.
The paper combines ethnographic research with a critical reading of available statistics as well as a reading of critical legal analyses of the complementary protection regime. This allows for a rounded approach to the way in which complementary protection subjects are constructed and therefore a better understanding of the multiple and diverging politics at stake. A parallel aim of the paper, therefore, is methodological - i.e. to examine the relevance of differing disciplinary approaches to data relating to displacement.