Mobilising against detention and deportation: Collective actions against the detention and deportation of ‘failed’ asylum seekers in France

Abstract

Attempts to limit asylum immigration into France have led to the rejection of an increasing proportion of asylum claims, and to the creation of a category of 'de´boute´s du droit d'asile' or 'failed' asylum seekers. Despite the apparent absence of resources to mobilise against the state, these 'failed' asylum seekers have in some cases taken collective action to resist their exclusion from French society, whether through hunger strikes, collective protests against government agencies, or campaigns to resist deportation.

Political Protest in Asylum and Deportation. An Introduction

“…Citizens, grassroots associations, advocacy groups and social movements organize and participate in collective actions, activate their networks, and share their knowledge and influence with marginalized beneficiaries. As numerous studies have demonstrated, solidarity protests have become a collective actor in challenging the machinery of asylum and deportation (Freedman 2009;Tazreiter 2010;Hasselberg 2014).…”

Protest Movements in Asylum and Deportation

“…Citizens, grassroots associations, advocacy groups and social movements organize and participate in collective actions, activate their networks, and share their knowledge and influence with marginalized beneficiaries. As numerous studies have demonstrated, solidarity protests have become a collective actor in challenging the machinery of asylum and deportation (Freedman 2009;Tazreiter 2010; Hasselberg 2014).Drawing on existing literature and research findings from the Taking Sides project 1 , we can identify three main features in solidarity movements. Firstly, the individuals and informal networks which dominate protest groups act in the interests of others.…”

“…While deportations signal and maintain national sovereignty over borders, they also often contravene the spirit of human rights legislation and impose danger and high costs on individuals. As a consequence, deportations are met with feelings of injustice, unease, and moral outrage in an increasingly wide part of society Freedman 2009Freedman , 2011Tazreiter 2010;). In the three countries under investigation, Austria, Germany and Switzerland, mobilization and protest against this forceful measure appeared both at the local and national level, often spontaneously and diffusely organized.…”

“…Civil society, friends, neighbors and political groups alike, took action to prevent the implementation of deportations of individuals, or to engage in movements that challenge the deportation system. Several campaigns and protest incidents in the field of deportation are well documented Freedman 2009Freedman , 2011Patler and Gonzales 2015), but little research has examined how this particular type of protest-targeting both individual human rights issues and core aspects of nation states-manifests itself across time and space. On the basis of an empirical, long-term perspective combined with a cross-country framework, the aim of this chapter is to identify D. Ruedin (*) University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa e-mail: didier.ruedin@unine.ch S. Rosenberger · N. Merhaut University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria 90 central dimensions of protest and to characterize protest activities in this sensitive field.…”

“…Solidarity protests can push against the enforcement of a specific deportation, or seek broader legal and social change within an immigrant society. The participants of a solidarity protest act on behalf of others and defend the rights and interests of individuals who otherwise have limited opportunities and resources to defend themselves (Freedman 2009;Chimienti 2011). The act of political mobilization does not serve their personal interest and can be described as altruistic .…”