Paper short abstract:

The paper examines how spaces of informality which emerge through the illegibility of the state – in which rules and rumours intersect – enhance the state’s power and reproduce official narratives of the generosity of mobility and entitlement rules in Portugal.

Paper long abstract:

The paper examines the spaces of informality produced by the illegibility of mobility and entitlement rules in Portugal, often viewed as progressive within the EU. Changes in the law constitute a constant challenge, not only to migrants but also to state officials. The state regularly breaks its own rules by failing to regulate laws within ninety days leaving officials high and dry at the interface with migrants. Officials’ knowledge and interpretation of mobility and entitlement rules is also inconsistent across the state system, resulting in the circulation of misinformation and speculative rumours. Rules and rumours intersect, rendering the state illegible, creating a climate of mistrust. Refugees brought to Portugal through European Union relocation and resettlement programmes also accuse the Portuguese state of breaking promises made in first asylum countries, since local policies fail to deliver and correspond to their imaginaries of mobility. Refugees, in turn, do not match up to the projections of third sector institutions hosting them through these programmes of the figure of the deserving, grateful refugee. They view their demands as excessive and their secondary movement to other European countries as breaking the rules of hospitality. However, the illegibility of the state also generates spaces for good will, creative manoeuvre and serendipity, helping to forge social relationships across unexpected terrains that bridge some of these divides to produce the state’s sought after success stories of the integrated refugee. The intersection of illegibility and informality enhances state power and reproduces official narratives of the generosity of its policies.