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.