Between supporting and reporting : Grassroots textual responses to the pushbacks at the fringes of EU

Abstract

In response to the mass mobilities disruption of the European Union border control regime, numerous self-organized, pro-migrant ad hoc solidarity groups proliferated across Europe. Depending on the local, national, and migratory contexts, these groups employed different methods and practices to support the people on the move and to challenge the inefficient, bureaucratized, discriminatory and securitized modes of action of official, state and humanitarian actors. Some practices that were developed in this framework of grassroots or vernacular humanitarianism with strong solidarity and a volunteer dimension (Brković, 2017; McGee and Pelham, 2017; Rozakou, 2017a; Sandri, 2018) outgrew the initial crisis context and evolved over time into distinctive formats of response to the border restrictions, exclusions, and violence. One of them is still today a lating practice of reporting of pushbacks by grassroots groups active at different locations at the southeastern territorial fringes of the EU. After reviewing the relevant literature and outlining the grassroots, self-organized, humanitarian and human rights background of pushback reports and reporting practices, the author focuses on these reports as a form of writing. Interest in the style, narrtive structure, and positionality of these reports opens questions of their parallels with ethnographic inquiries.

Precarious Emplacement in Croatia: Conceptualising More-Than-Transient Migration on the Balkan Route

“…Many migrants do not plan to stay in Croatia or are reluctant to do so after becoming stuck by border enforcement. The violence committed by the border regime against migrants during their precarious journeys, including the increasing practice of pushbacks (Hameršak, 2021), should not be overlooked. However, for some migrants, being stuck in Croatia was also a period during which they could re-evaluate their options for migration, and experience an unexpected new beginning.…”

The Lives of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors during their Transit Stay in Greece

“…Clashes between border guards and refugees can be volatile. Local community groups offering support along the southeastern territorial fringes of the EU report pushbacks, exclusions, and violence (Hameršak 2021;Morales 2021).…”

“…There is always the threat that a "potentially dangerous person" may blur their legal status (Fontanari 2019: 135). Although care and supportive provisions are given with sympathetic intentions, they are often delivered in the broader context of a hostile environment (Hameršak 2021).…”