Humanitarianism, Borders, and the Governance of Mobility: The EU and the Refugee Crisis

Over the last years, the external borders of the European Union have become the centre of attention with what has come to be known as the "refugee crisis". The increased control of these borders over the last two to three decades has aimed at regulating and preventing what is defined as unwanted or irregular migration. Overall, these policies also make the access to Europe, and possibilities to seek international protection, more difficult for many populations who for different reasons have been forced to flee their homes. The risks that many take to cross these borders, coupled with the European governments' willingness to control and prevent such movement of people, has led to the appearance of different forms of humanitarian suffering outside, along and within the European borders: from the drownings in the Mediterranean, to the camps in Calais in Northern France or the dire situation of refugees stranded in Greece. This project set out to investigate the role that borders, and the policies to manage them, play in the creation of humanitarian situations, using Europe as a case study, but also the role of borders in humanitarian crises elsewhere. It has investigated different dimensions of the borders - land, air and sea - to understand the different humanitarian situations they lead to. It has also examined the humanitarian responses, from established humanitarian organisations and especially new volunteer initiatives, to situations as they have appeared in Greece, France and Norway and elsewhere in Europe. In discussions around responses to migrants crossing the Mediterranean, mostly from Libya to Italy, the project has looked more closely at what is often set up as a tension between needs for border control on the one hand and humanitarian Search and rescue operations on the other. Hereunder, the project has also given increased attention to processes of criminalization of humanitarian aid, as well as criminalization as a mode of governing humanitarian space. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the exceptional numbers of people fleeing the country, there have been intense debates about how Europe responds differently to different populations of refugees. The project has followed this discussion in its final year, examining some of these differences and the mechanisms around – and has contributed to identify an emerging issue on how companion animals of refugees are received. The project has organized seminars covering different aspects of the responses to the 'refugee reception crisis': from the relationship between new volunteer initiatives and established humanitarian organizations, and how their roles as "humanitarian" or "social movements" are understood; to criminalization, both of humanitarian aid and by humanitarian actors; to refugee reception in Greece (as seen from authorities and grassroots organizations); to the risks of human trafficking and exploitation in the wake of the massive numbers of refugees fleeing Ukraine. The project has also organized two more high-profile events: one in the autumn of 2019 addressed the discussions surrounding the Search and Rescue efforts in the Mediterranean, and invited politicians from the largest political parties in Norway to debate (after research-based introductions), and a seminar in March 2022 on the occasion of the visit of UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi to PRIO. The project has produced an edited volume discussing how citizen humanitarian initiatives across Europe, and beyond, have sought to bring assistance to refugees and other migrants, and in the process also reshaping borders and how humanitarian aid is conceived. The volume, "Citizen Humanitarianism at European Borders", was published in May 2021 with Routledge. The project has frequently engaged with humanitarian practitioners, and was affiliated with the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies (NCHS) and the PRIO Migration Centre, through which it also disseminated its findings.

The outcomes of the project have been made on three levels: - First, at an academic level, the projects academic outputs (1 edited volume, 7 journal articles, and academic book chapters) have contributed in different ways to examine the meaning of “humanitarian borders”, how they are produced, and what tensions are created in the border areas between efforts to control and manage the EU’s external borders and the efforts to save lives, and provide basic assistance and physical protection to newly arrived refugees. - Secondly, at a professional level, it has consolidated the PI Jumbert’s position as a scholar in the field of humanitarian efforts and refugee reception in Europe, given her valuable supervision experience, and contributed to giving young aspiring researchers a first research project-based experience, positioning them for further academic careers. It has also consolidated the PI’s international academic networks. - Finally, in terms of broader public dissemination, the project has produced a number of publications aimed at the general public, policy makers as well as humanitarian practitioners, and by engaging with all these audiences through a number of public events, the project has established itself as a reference and resource on these questions. The impact of the project: - The project leader has regularly taken part in public and academic exchanges about the rescue efforts at sea, and insisting on the need to separate between what happens in a situation of distress at sea (and the legal obligation then to provide Search and Rescue) from different forms of reception and legal stay in Europe thereafter (some may be entitled to international protection, others not, some may be returned and others not). This need to disentangle the different concerns and legal rights and duties is a key take away that the project has contributed to shed light on – and which will continue to be communicated from this project also after its conclusion. Stakeholders interacted with seem to take note of this, although the larger political debate is complex and quite closed. - The project’s focus on “citizen humanitarianism”, to describe the civic engagement, duty and sense of responsibility “to do something” through humanitarian-like assistance, seems to gain traction, especially in the academic field. While other scholars have in the same period written about humanitarian borderwork (Pallister-Wilkins), subversive humanitarianism (Vandevoordt) volunteer humanitarianism (Sandri), grassroot humanitarianism (McGee and Pelham), the term “citizen humanitarianism” seems to gain traction and is often referred to in overviews of the literature. This is also a term the authors and the PI will continue to work on beyond this project, and has contributed to the project's initial aim of writing a political sociolgy of humanitarianism.

The external borders of the European Union (EU) have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, especially with what has become known as the 'refugee crisis'. New situations of humanitarian suffering have emerged, outside, along and inside the European borders, in different ways related to the difficulty or impossibility for some individuals to cross these borders. This has led to the emergence of new 'humanitarian spaces' alongside the border security agencies with a mandate to control the borders, as well as inside Europe. These new 'humanitarian spaces' differ in many ways from how they have been understood traditionally in the global borderlands. The HumBORDER project examines these new humanitarian spaces, and how they in different ways are due to and how they relate to border regimes and the politics destined to govern mobility. It takes a global scope to understand the role of borders in humanitarianism, and the European Union and the 'refugee crisis' as a specific case to study the new issues that arise. It does so through a three-pronged methodological approach: (1) It examines the role of borders in constituting humanitarian crisis, and how state vs. humanitarian governance responds to them; (2) It takes a three dimensional approach to the borders, through its land, sea and air spaces, as a means to understand the way the EU borders function (socio-politically and legally), and how these create different forms of humanitarian suffering, responsibilities and responses; and (3) It studies specific humanitarian responses to the 'refugee crisis', by established humanitarian organizations and new volunteer initiatives that have emerged, through case studies in Greece, France and Norway. By investigating these issues through a multidisciplinary approach, at the core of contemporary humanitarianism, the HumBORDER project will contribute to further developing the emergent thematic sub-field of a Political Sociology of Humanitarianism.