Warehousing asylum seekers: The logistification of reception

in Environment and Planning. D, Society and Space (2022), 40(1), 41-59

This article employs the analytical perspective of logistics to explore a key, yet quite overlooked, aspect of the functioning of the EU border regime: the reception and associated territorial ... [more ▼]

This article employs the analytical perspective of logistics to explore a key, yet quite overlooked, aspect of the functioning of the EU border regime: the reception and associated territorial distribution of newly arrived asylum seekers. Drawing on qualitative data collected at the height of ‘refugee reception crisis’ in multiple contexts in Italy and Sweden, the article shows how reception is undergoing a process of ‘logistification’. In this process, organisational and logistical concerns prevail over the care for those who are assisted, and reception is turned into a logistical matter of moving and accommodating asylum seekers. Crucial to this process of ‘logistification’ is the warehousing of asylum seekers – an art of government that seeks to objectify asylum seekers through their depersonalisation, victimisation and (im)mobilisation. The article argues that the ‘logistification’ of reception not only has dehumanising effects on asylum seekers, but also exposes the attempt to make profit out their management and transfer. This creates the conditions for the development of a reception industry in which the very presence of asylum seekers is valorised for the profit of a whole range of actors who ensure the reproduction, transfer, knowledge and control of those hosted in reception facilities. [less ▲]

The Implementation of the Hotspot Approach in Italy. CONDISOBS Policy Paper No. 2

Diverse speeches and writings (2022)

This policy paper is based on the findings of the H2020 project CONDISOBS, which was conducted by Lorenzo Vianelli at the University of Luxembourg, thanks to funding received from the European Union’s ... [more ▼]

This policy paper is based on the findings of the H2020 project CONDISOBS, which was conducted by Lorenzo Vianelli at the University of Luxembourg, thanks to funding received from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 838722. CONDISOBS explored the governance of the mobility of asylum seekers in the European Union through a multi-sited qualitative study based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with state officials, representatives of international organisations and non-governmental organisations, lawyers, members of advocacy groups, social workers and activists. Interview material was integrated by an extensive review of academic literature, policy documents and institutional and non-governmental reports. Data was collected between October 2020 and June 2021. This policy paper is part of a series on the hotspot approach, which also includes a policy paper on the features of this mechanism in a broad sense and one on its implementation in Greece. All policy papers, as well as other research outputs, are freely accessible on the project website. [less ▲]

Waiting as probation: selecting self-disciplining asylum seekers

in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (2022), 48(5), 1013-1032

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 ▲]

Using multi-member panels to tackle RSD complexities

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

Proteggere o controllare? Il sistema europeo comune di asilo nello spazio Schengen

in Zapruder (2020), 51(Jan-Apr 2020), 34-53

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 ▲]

Le rôle des acteurs locaux dans l’accueil des demandeurs d’asile et des réfugiés au Luxembourg

Article for general public (2019)

La recherche sur l’accueil des réfugiés, en Europe et de par le monde, porte une attention croissante au rôle des acteurs dits locaux. Jusqu’à peu, l’accueil était considéré comme une question quasi ... [more ▼]

La recherche sur l’accueil des réfugiés, en Europe et de par le monde, porte une attention croissante au rôle des acteurs dits locaux. Jusqu’à peu, l’accueil était considéré comme une question quasi exclusivement nationale. Il est vrai que les Etats centraux gardent toute leur importance, notamment en ce qui concerne les processus de décision. Cependant, l’accueil se joue aussi à une échelle locale, en particulier pour la mise en oeuvre des politiques. Quel est donc le rôle des acteurs locaux dans l’accueil des demandeurs et bénéficiaires de protection internationale au Luxembourg ? [less ▲]

National report on the governance of the asylum reception system in Luxembourg

Report (2019)

The national report on the governance of the reception system in Luxembourg is one of the seven country reports that are produced within Work Package 3 of the H2020 project CEASEVAL. The report provides ... [more ▼]

The national report on the governance of the reception system in Luxembourg is one of the seven country reports that are produced within Work Package 3 of the H2020 project CEASEVAL. The report provides an overview of the Luxembourgish reception system. More specifically, it focuses on recent transformations that have affected the system, processes of implementation at the national and local levels, and sources of heterogeneity within the national system. It is based on document analysis as well as on 19 semi-structured interviews with a range of different stakeholders who are directly or indirectly involved in the Luxembourgish reception system. The report first provides some historical background on the reception of asylum seekers in Luxembourg by paying specific attention to the main legislative instruments that shaped the initial design of the national reception system. Then, the main revisions that affected the system in the period 2009-2018 are explored alongside their related decision-making processes. This paves the way for an overview of the formal structure of the Luxembourgish reception system. After the discussion of the formal organisation of reception policies in the country, the report moves on to explore the actual functioning of the reception system by investigating implementation practices at the national and local levels. Finally, some examples of heterogeneity in the current provision of reception are discussed, in an attempt to identify drivers of convergence and divergence in the implementation of reception policies. [less ▲]

EUrope's uneven geographies of reception. Excess, differentiation, and struggles in the government of asylum seekers

in Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa (2017), 2017(3),

The article takes EUrope's uneven geographies of reception as a privileged standpoint from which to explore the ways in which EUrope is currently produced through the management of asylum seekers, as well ... [more ▼]

The article takes EUrope's uneven geographies of reception as a privileged standpoint from which to explore the ways in which EUrope is currently produced through the management of asylum seekers, as well as constantly contested by asylum seekers' movements. Drawing from qualitative research in Italy and Sweden, the article calls into question the notion of a homogeneous EUrope that is promoted by EU asylum policies through the idea of a common area of protection in which asylum seekers are treated equally and fairly regardless of the place of reception. Such presumed homogeneity is radically challenged by an excess of contexts of reception, which is explored along spatial, institutional, and temporal lines, and by excessive movements, through which migrants attempt to take advantage of the unevenness characterising the EUropean space. The article argues that an emphasis on the excess of reception and on the excessive character of movements points to possible ways for rethinking Europe in terms in which unevenness is replaced by equal possibilities, living conditions, and welfare. [less ▲]

Gli effetti perversi del Sistema europeo comune di asilo: alcune riflessioni critiche a partire dall'Emergenza Nord-Africa

in Africa e Mediterraneo (2014), 80

Il presente contributo intende riflettere criticamente sulle politiche europee di asilo a partire da un'analisi dell'approccio emergenziale che ha caratterizzato l'impegno del governo italiano in questo ... [more ▼]

Il presente contributo intende riflettere criticamente sulle politiche europee di asilo a partire da un'analisi dell'approccio emergenziale che ha caratterizzato l'impegno del governo italiano in questo settore nell'ultimo decennio. In particolare, analizzando le conseguenze di tale approccio a partire in particolare dalla cosiddetta “emergenza nord-Africa” (ENA), intendo mettere in evidenza gli effetti perversi del Sistema europeo comune di asilo il quale sembra produrre tutt’altro rispetto all’auspicato spazio comune di protezione e solidarietà. Questi effetti perversi derivano dal fatto che il Sistema comune non soltanto si propone di garantire che ai richiedenti asilo, “indipendentemente dallo Stato membro in cui è presentata la domanda d’asilo, sia riservato un trattamento di livello equivalente quanto alle condizioni di accoglienza e di pari livello quanto alle disposizioni procedurali e alla determinazione dello status” (Consiglio Europeo 2010, p. 32); ma, soprattutto, aspira a “prevenire o ridurre i movimenti secondari all’interno dell’Unione” (Consiglio Europeo 2010, p. 32), così come è dimostrato dall’incondizionata fedeltà ai principi Dublino – ribaditi ancora una volta nel nuovo regolamento Dublino III (n. 604/2013 del 26 giugno 2013) – che ancorano il richiedente asilo al paese di primo ingresso. Cercherò quindi di evidenziare come la mancanza di programmazione, la costante carenza di posti nel sistema ordinario e il conseguente susseguirsi di azioni di accoglienza intraprese al di fuori di esso, si traducano in una cronicizzazione dell’emergenza (Olivieri 2011) e in un abbassamento generale del livello di accoglienza i cui effetti consistono nella riproduzione della dipendenza dei richiedenti asilo accolti nonché nell’incremento dei movimenti secondari tra stati membri con sempre più richiedenti e addirittura titolari di protezione che preferiscono vivere alla stregua di irregolari in altri paesi europei. [less ▲]