Contribution short abstract:

Based on digital ethnography, this presentation examines everyday strategies of Persian and Arabic speakers planning irregular migration to Europe, revealing a nuanced moral economy and showcasing migrants' agency and decision-making within migration autonomy theory.

Contribution long abstract:

Based on the analysis Persian and Arabic speakers' border-crossing facilitation practices, this article challenges conventional dichotomies between smugglers and migrants, reflecting on the complex and dynamic relationships within emic migration networks.

Unauthorized migrants are active agents engaged in meticulous decision-making processes as they plan their departures and subsequent journeys. Contrary to the portrayal of passive victims ensnared by smugglers, they perceive themselves as resilient navigators who overcome challenges and make calculated decisions to expedite their journeys. Our analysis reveals a relationship between migrants and smugglers, which may fall within a ‘solidarity and reciprocity framework’ rooted in localized moral constructs. Facilitation of unauthorized migration produces a collective repository of migratory knowledge, fostering a community based on shared insights and on the overarching objective of shepherding refugees to safety. In this context, smuggling emerges not as an illegal enterprise but as a grassroots refugee-protection mechanism, characteristic of a bottom-up support system.

Indeed, these practices can be better interpreted if we adopt Papadopoulos and Tsianos's (2013) concept of ‘mobile commons,’ which denotes the ability of unauthorized migrants and other itinerant populations to establish communal spaces of solidarity that transcend borders, engaging in practices of collective resource-sharing, mutual aid, and social support.