Europe in the Woods: Reflections on the Situation at the Polish-Belarusian Border

Abstract

For a few months in the summer and autumn of 2021, the eastern EU border became the focus of international media attention due to the political events accompanying the presence of refugees from the Middle East and Northern Africa. This ethnographic snapshot shows the idiosyncrasy of this migration route and reflects on the situation where people tried to help the refugees, despite the criminalisation of help by the Polish state. The reaction of the European Union (or rather a lack thereof) is also thematised. It is too early to expect thorough analyses of these processes, but it is important to document them. What is happening, although ephemeral and changing, is of crucial significance for our understanding of the everyday workings of EU bordering regimes.