The Humanitarian War Against Migrant Smugglers at Sea

Garelli, Glenda; Tazzioli, Martina

doi:10.1111/anti.12375

Cited by 64 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Thus, it marked a turning point: since then, all patrolling operations (e.g. the Frontex operation Triton and the EU mission Eunavfor Med ) have been made highly visible in both their security and their humanitarian dimension (Garelli and Tazzioli this issue; Tazzioli ).…”

Section: The Inclusionary Power Of Humanitarianismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delocalization, Humanitarianism, and Human Rights: The Mediterranean Border Between Exclusion and Inclusion

Cuttitta

2017

Antipode

127

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By reflecting on both the exclusionary and the inclusionary role of humanitarian migration and border management in the Central Mediterranean, this paper explores the relationship of humanitarianism with the delocalization of the EU border and with human rights. First, the paper analyses the role of human rights in the institutional humanitarian discourse about migration and border management at the Mediterranean EU border. The paper then analyses the Italian operation Mare Nostrum and, more generally, Italian humanitarianized border management in the Central Mediterranean. In doing this, it shows that humanitarianism contributes to the discursive legitimation and spatial delocalization of exclusionary policies and practices. Moreover, humanitarianism contributes to a symbolically and legally subordinate inclusion of migrants in the European space. While such humanitarian inclusion can be more inclusive than what human rights would require, it is posited as an act of grace rather than an enhancement of human rights. In both its exclusionary and inclusionary dimension, humanitarianism transcends and expands territorial boundaries by outsourcing responsibilities and enhancing delocalized border management. and preventing people from attempting the sea-crossing (e.g. through patrolling in international waters and police cooperation with North African countries). However, the "humanitarian reason" also resulted in increased efforts either to rescue people at sea, close to Libyan waters and sometimes even in Libyan waters, and bring them to Italy, or to open limited humanitarian corridors providing safe passage to selected groups of vulnerable persons. The aim of this paper is to reflect on both the exclusionary and the inclusionary role of humanitarianism, and on how processes of humanitarian exclusion/inclusion interact with the delocalization of the EU border, as well as with human rights.Research on the exclusionary power of humanitarianism in general (Aradau ), as well as of politics of pity (Aradau 2004) and care (Agier 2011; Williams 2015) in particular, is increasing. This body of work shows that humanitarian logics are not incompatible with-and are often instrumental to-restrictive migration policies and migration management practices, which exclude people from territories and/or rights (often resulting in violent or even unlawful and inhuman outcomes).On the contrary, the inclusionary power of humanitarianized migration and border management remains under-researched. A notable exception is the work of Fassin (2005) and Ticktin (2005, 2006), analysing the effects of the illness clause introduced in French immigration law in 1998. This measure allowed authorities to grant residency status for humanitarian reasons to undocumented foreign residents affected by life-threatening pathologies. Thus, while the main doors of labour migration and asylum in France were closed by increasingly restrictive laws and administrative practices, a small window could still be opened by compassion. This shows a particular attitud...

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Section: The Inclusionary Power Of Humanitarianismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delocalization, Humanitarianism, and Human Rights: The Mediterranean Border Between Exclusion and Inclusion

Cuttitta

2017

Antipode

127

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“…As evidenced by the current EUropean military operation Eunavfor Med, fittingly renamed Sophia after a baby born by a rescued Somalian woman on a military vessel (European Council , ), military and humanitarian rationales operate not as contradictory but deeply intertwined logics and point to novel modalities of border governance (Garelli and Tazzioli ). As Pallister‐Wilkins (:54) notes, “humanitarianism does not usurp or replace existing trends within security practices; instead it forms a component within policing, developed over time to address the problem of population”.…”

Section: Europe's Selective Humanitarian Bordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The “military–humanitarian nexus” (Garelli and Tazzioli ) is never a smooth assemblage: EUrope's humanitarian frame, even if continuously reproduced, is subject to contestation and breakage, and scandalised practices of leaving to die, pushing back or attacking refugee vessels have repeatedly revealed the non‐conformity of humanitarian imaginaries with violent realities.…”

Section: Europe's Selective Humanitarian Bordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Fleet of Mediterranean Border Humanitarians

Stierl

2017

Antipode

146

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EUrope has created a space of human suffering within which militaryhumanitarian measures seem urgently required if the mass drowning is to be halted. The framing of migration governance as humanitarian has become commonplace in spectacular border practices in the Mediterranean Sea. Nonetheless, maritime disasters continue to unfold. This article discusses three non-governmental actors, part of an emerging "humanitarian fleet" that seeks to turn the sea into a less deadly space: the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Sea-Watch. While the rescue of precarious lives and the alleviation of suffering are central concerns, they imagine their humanitarian practices, the subjects of their compassion, and EUrope's role in shaping borderzones in different ways, pointing to a wide humanitarian spectrum. Engaging with the different discursive frames created by the three "border humanitarians", the article explores what possibilities exist for political dissent to emanate from within humanitarian reason.Endnotes 1 This paper speaks of "EUrope" throughout. In this way it seeks to problematise frequently employed usages that equate the EU with Europe and Europe with the EU and suggests, at the same time, that EUrope is not reducible to the institutions of the EU. 2 The sentiments expressed in this article are my own, and not (necessarily) representative of the WatchTheMed Alarm Phone network. The Alarm Phone has cooperated with MSF, Sea-Watch, MOAS and other humanitarian actors, especially in cases of distress at sea.

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“…The latest evolution of the Mediterranean military‐humanitarian frontier is represented by the EU Naval Force's EUNAVFOR MED “Operation Sophia” against migrant smuggling networks in the central Mediterranean, a mission launched with the formal aim to disrupt “the business model of human smuggling and trafficking” while “protecting life at sea”. In this capacity, the military‐humanitarian approach to migration management results in a blockage of migrants and refugees in transit (Garelli and Tazzioli ) and pertains to the larger EU rationale of spatial containment of migrants and refugees.…”

Section: Humanitarianism and The Mediterranean: From Alleviating Suffmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: Mediterranean Movements and the Reconfiguration of the Military‐Humanitarian Border in 2015

2018

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The Humanitarian War Against Migrant Smugglers at Sea

Cited by 64 publications

References 30 publications

Delocalization, Humanitarianism, and Human Rights: The Mediterranean Border Between Exclusion and Inclusion

Delocalization, Humanitarianism, and Human Rights: The Mediterranean Border Between Exclusion and Inclusion

A Fleet of Mediterranean Border Humanitarians

Introduction: Mediterranean Movements and the Reconfiguration of the Military‐Humanitarian Border in 2015

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