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Contribution short abstract

My contribution focuses on the relational, embodied notions of becoming to cross biometric, colonially inherited borders between Sierra Leone and Guinea. Border crossers performed the ‘commoner’ without documents who was limited to the borderlands or the ‘two-SIM citizens’ belonging to both states.

Contribution long abstract

Beyond having the right papers, relations and embodied belonging facilitate mobility in West Africa. At the increasingly biometric and colonially inherited borders between Sierra Leone and Guinea, I argue, local notions and embodied performances of belonging may enact freedom of movement.

To many travelers, the new biometric travel documents from Sierra Leone and Guinea were hardly accessible or fundable. They crossed these borders without documents by performing the role of ‘the commoner’, as people who live on both sides of the border who only travel within its narrow confines. To do so, they had to perform knowing the border guards, show no fear and travel in slippers to demonstrate their localized movements. These relational and embodied practices de facto sutured the travelers to the borderlands.

In contrast, other travelers instead identified as ‘two-SIM citizens’ who belonged to both countries. This form of lived dual citizenship from below allowed them to travel far beyond the border. However, to be a two-SIM citizen they needed to know the national languages, perform belonging to the national ethnic groups, engage in place-making in both contexts and often go a long way to procure the digital ID cards from both countries to prevent police racketeering.

These local notions of belonging demonstrate the importance of local and transnational identities beyond statist identification and their relational and embodied performance for cross-border mobility.

The data draws on direct observation at different border crossing points and interviews with border crossers, border officers and traditional authorities in 2024-2025.