Waiting as probation: selecting self-disciplining asylum seekers

in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (2021)

This article diagnoses and critiques a type of governmentality associated with waiting during protracted asylum appeal procedures by drawing upon data from a multi-methodological study of asylum ... [more ▼]

This article diagnoses and critiques a type of governmentality associated with waiting during protracted asylum appeal procedures by drawing upon data from a multi-methodological study of asylum adjudication in Europe. Focusing on Austria, Germany and Italy, we explore the use of integration-related considerations in asylum appeal processes by looking at the ways in which these considerations permeate judges’ decision-making, particularly, but not exclusively, on the granting of national, non-EU harmonised protection statuses. Building on insights from the literature on conditional integration we question the implicit sociopolitical biases and moral assumptions that underpin this permeation. We show that the use of integration-related considerations in asylum appeals transforms migrant waiting into a period of probation during which rejected asylum seekers’ conducts are governed and tested in relation to the use of time. More than simply waiting patiently, rejected asylum seekers are expected to wait productively, whereby productivity is assessed through the neoliberal imperatives of entrepreneurship, autonomy and selfimprovement. We thus contribute to scholarship on migrant waiting by showing how time is capitalised by state authorities even when – and actually because – it offers opportunities for migrants. [less ▲]

Recourir à la collégialité pour réosudre les complexités de la DSR

in Forced Migration Review (2020), (65), 32-35

Les études menées dans un certain nombre de juridictions européennes suggèrent qu’au stade du recours, les formations collégiales améliorent la qualité et l’équité du processus de détermination du statut ... [more ▼]

Les études menées dans un certain nombre de juridictions européennes suggèrent qu’au stade du recours, les formations collégiales améliorent la qualité et l’équité du processus de détermination du statut de réfugié (DSR). [less ▲]

El empleo de comisiones compuestas por varios miembros para abordar las complejidades de la DCR

in Forced Migration Review (2020), (65), 32-35

Research across a range of European jurisdictions suggests that the use of multi-member judicial panels at appeal stage improves the quality and fairness of RSD