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Paper short abstract:

By way of historical and ethnographic work, we show the colonial roots of the border regime and its humanitarian dispositifs. Melilla, sadly famous for its fence at the European border, illustrates the coloniality of neoliberal forms of government and the gender arrangements that configure them.

Paper long abstract:

In Melilla humanitarian dispositifs contribute to the border regime as much as securitarian ones. They are two sides of the same regime of mobility control, which is deeply rooted in the Spanish colonial order in Morocco and which reproduces the patriarchal premises about colonial “others”, particularly women.

By way of long-term historical and ethnographic research in Melilla, we show how both forms of border government—humanitarian and securitarian—share similar and imbricated mandates, and operate in continuity with apparently antagonistic regimes like colonial Francoist pacification. Where before the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco “protected” a colonial subject openly considered inferior, today neoliberal humanitarianism “assists” a racialized subject deemed in some way deficient. In both, woman occupies a place inferior to that of man. Both regimes share the ambition of “improving” the subjugated population, from a perpetual and supremacist eurocentrism. Our decolonizing and feminist approach shows how the subcontracting of government to the humanitarian complex creates a sector that is feminized, precarized, and profoundly dependent on the securitarian government of the border. Its political dependence on and functional integration with the border regime provokes an (only apparent) depoliticization of the humanitarian sector. Its modus operandi, organized through “projects” that solve aid “problems” in the border context, generates perverse effects, both on humanitarian aid professionals and “beneficiaries” or “users”. Moreover, the “projectorate”, as well call it, recreates ethno-racial hierarchies anew.

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Paper short abstract:

This proposal aims to discuss a set of questions about the structural violence shaping cross-border mobility, to capture the hierarchical modes of excluding or incorporating migrant people, shifting the parameters of belonging. This inquiry adopts a postcolonial feminist anthropological perspective.

Paper long abstract:

There is a desire to border through state tactics (De Genova, 2017), which militarise borders using what Catherine Besteman (2020) calls the new apparatus of apartheid in the form of militarised border technologies and personnel, using the methods of intelligence and military mentality (Von Clausewitz [1832] 2014; Davies 2018), to disrupt the mobility of migrants from the global South, to detain them in detention centres and at certain borders, and then deport them. New forms of criminality emerge, while biometrically tracking of the mobile phones that migrant people carry coexist with the using of drones and motion sensors in the name of an emerging new world order of new forms of militaristic border security, containment and empire building (Besteman 2020). The growing border industrial complex, the proliferation of the surveillance network and the relationship between the construction of walls, global inequality and displacement related to climate change, impoverishment and war can't be dissociated from the anthropological 'gaze'. What does all this brutality mean for migrant people? How does it impact on their personhood, their individuality (Comaroff and Comaroff, 2001). And how is it argued within the EU about the sites of compassionate humanitarian control (Comaroff and Comaroff, 2001)? It is important to situate this debate and enquiry in a postcolonial feminist anthropological critique of what Achiume (2020) points out that many of the emerging digital technologies employed in immigration control and border surveillance have "historical antecedents in the colonial technologies of racialised governance".

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Paper short abstract:

Searching for disappeared migrants is a process that entangles State and non-state actors. This contribution traces how this process is fraught with the intertwined logics of humanitarianism and securitisation, two conflicting views that make it difficult to conceive a politics of reparation.

Paper long abstract:

Border violence takes place in a way in a context of secrecy. Instrumentalising nature, EU policies force migrants to take more dangerous routes that expose them to harsh nature, often resulting in their death or disappearance. In the face of this, families of the disappeared, NGOs and civil society have mobilised to this violence visible and demand reparations, disputing EU’s States disposure of blame, and seeking State accountability from them.

Searching for disappeared migrants is a process that entangles different agents, including the State (police, judges, forensics), NGOs and civil society actors that accompany the loved ones of the disappeared, who are active in producing and processing data of migrants. The issue of disappearances involves the intertwined logics of humanitarianism and securitisation. These two share the fact that they rely on secrecy and data protection. In this contribution I ask the following questions: What is the role of data protection and secrecy in the issue of migrant disappearances? How do different actors (i.e. civil society) navigate secrecy when supporting the struggles of the families of the disappeared? How does the wider atmosphere criminalisation of migration and irregularised border crossings hinder the humanitarian efforts of search and identification? I rely on interviews with police, activists, and humanitarian actors in Spain as part of an ongoing research project dealing with the politics of reparations in the face of border violence, as well as in my own involvement with migrant solidarity structures providing support to relatives of disappeared migrants.

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Paper short abstract:

Driving on anthropology debates on humanitarian borders and asylum, this proposal aims to explore the construction of a humanitarian border in the urban space of the Community of Madrid, Spain and its operating logics, composed of multiple institutional borders and managerial humanitarianism.

Paper long abstract:

Driving on anthropology debates on humanitarian borders and asylum, this proposal aims to explore the construction of a humanitarian border in the urban space of the Community of Madrid, Spain. Since the “refugee crisis” of 2015 and the increase in the number of asylum applications in Spain, Madrid has become a gateway for many people mainly coming from Latin and Central America, like Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Honduras, and Nicaragua, who are candidates to apply for asylum. In this framework, this capital has been reconfigured as a reference both in the work of securitized management of asylum applications, operated by the Ministry of the Interior, and in the field of reception and humanitarian care for asylum seekers managed by national and international NGOs contracted by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration of Spain. Based on this context, this proposal wants to analyze the production of a humanitarian border in Madrid from the intersection of these dimensions. Specifically, it focuses on how its operating logics, composed of multiple institutional borders and managerial management of the humanitarian reception carried out by these selected NGOs, creates a limbo in which people live in a prolonged, if not permanent state of emergency and reduce their possibilities to access to their right to request asylum. The work is based on a ethnographic teamwork research (2022-ongoing) in which we realized both in-depth interviews with NGOs, public institutions, and refugees, as well as observation at meetings carried out by and with these same actors.

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Paper short abstract:

During the last twenty years policie about refugees in Italy have been most often driven by demagogic forces. Mass media have often miss-informed about mobilities of migrants within the country and very often the information produced by the mass media has only produced unecessary fear.

Paper long abstract:

During the last twenty years the policies about refugees in Italy have been most often characterized by demagogy. The national mass media have often misrepresented mobilities and motivations of migrants and very often the information produced by the mass media has only worked to scare the audience about migrations rather than analyzing and presenting data to increase the knowledge of the phenomonen. The securitization of the frontiers to prevent migrants from entering the country has been presented as something unavoidable rather than a precise choice with specific consequences. When the Ukraine war started in less than a week the news have changed their tones and the importance of solidarity towards refugees has been broadcasted strongly contrasting with the previous public discourse on the criminalization of solidarity.

A few months after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, migrants arriving from southern borders did not get help from the authorities and their boat sank in the vicinity of Lampedusa, provoking a new tragedy in the Mediterranean sea. The striking different attitude that accompanies the arrival of refugees from Ukraine as compared to those coming from Africa is alarming and alert once more about the destiny of the rule of law that was the basis for the founding of Europe. Unfortunately, more and more boundaries seem to be delineated on the basis of economic, social and cultural difference.

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Paper short abstract:

In Spring 2022, the Polish-Ukrainian border witnessed the largest displacement crisis in Europe since World War II. This paper explores the intricate dynamics of the resulting humanitarian ecosystem (volunteers, border guards, paid workers) and its transformative impact on the border's role.

Paper long abstract:

In the spring of 2022, the Polish-Ukrainian border witnessed an immense displacement crisis in Europe, as daily influxes of up to 50,000 Ukrainian refugees transformed the Polish side into a 24/7 tent camp predominantly overseen by international volunteers. This paper explores the intricate dynamics of the resulting emergence of the global humanitarian ecosystem, encompassing volunteers, Polish border guards, and paid workers. It scrutinizes the transformative effects on the transformative importance of the border, while also considering the profound implications for the future paths of the displaced Ukrainians.

Refugees were transported from the physical border to the two primary humanitarian aid hubs: a repurposed Tesco supermarket functioning as a shelter and the Przemysl train station. These locations not only became pivotal in migratory decision-making but also served as extensions of the border itself, with volunteers providing crucial psychological support and informational assistance. Daily departures of free buses from these sites linked refugees to diverse European destinations. The Tesco supermarket, uniquely configured with desks manned by volunteers representing various European countries, metamorphosed into a tangible "supermarket of opportunities," delivering vital information on prospects in each nation.

Upon crossing the physical border, displaced Ukrainians encountered a deliberately crafted humanitarian infrastructure tailored to navigate uncertainty, effectively transforming the border crossing into a life-changing experience. The emergent "supermarket of opportunities" demanded immediate decisions, magnifying the border's significance as a pivotal juncture in the journeys of these displaced individuals.

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Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to shed light on violence experienced by migrant women seeking asylum in Spain. These women confront patriarchal practices and discourses, coupled with classist and xenophobic stances, necessitating the adoption of specific strategies to secure their regularization in the country.

Paper long abstract:

Migration policies and the asylum process significantly impact the experiences of applicants. Proper training and empathy on the part of administrators should be integral to improving asylum procedures, along with the provision of adequate resources and the promotion of inclusion and integration. These are all key aspects to ensure an effective and humanitarian transition for those seeking refuge in Spain. This work seeks to contribute to understanding how the challenges faced and the strategies adopted can inform the development of more effective and protection-oriented policies for asylum seekers.

The aim of this paper is to analyze and highlight forms of violence experienced by migrant women who have sought asylum in Spain in recent years, examining how humanitarian organizations address these violences. These violences are rooted in the intersection of factors such as gender, place of origin, racialization, economic vulnerability, and marital status. Faced with these consciously perceived situations, these women employ various strategies, exercising their agency with determination to establish themselves securely and with full rights in the country.

In addressing the gender perspective, attention will also be given to the experiences of men, as they too are not exempt from stigmatization due to the same intersecting factors mentioned above.

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Paper short abstract:

This contribution examines, from a feminist perspective, the experiences of women asylum seekers, highlighting the relevance of citizen collectives and NGOs. The ethnographic focus reveals gendered challenges at humanitarian borders, based on fieldwork in Madrid (2015-2023).

Paper long abstract:

This paper addresses, from a feminist anthropological perspective, the experiences that asylum-seeking women have during the moments and spaces of waiting. In the transition to protection and refuge, they experience different periods of waiting, which differ in length and risks according to contexts and circumstances. Waiting is not neutral, but is embedded in unequal and often violent gender relations for migrant and asylum-seeking women.

In this context, the role of citizens' groups and non-governmental organisations in providing assistance to asylum seekers is highlighted. Their involvement is complexly interwoven into the discourses and practices that shape humanitarian borders and the reception of refugee populations. In this way, it analyses the intersection between the actions and discourses of citizen groups, non-governmental organisations and the gender-specific challenges faced by asylum-seeking women in their search for protection and refuge.

Through fieldwork conducted in Madrid (Spain) between 2015 and 2023, we analyse how feminist ethnographic attention to waiting raises crucial questions in the context of humanitarian borders, specifically in relation to gender dynamics linked to the temporal and spatial categories experienced by women and men in situations of forced displacement and transit in the context of Spanish and European refuge.