Abstract
The paradoxical merger of humanitarian care and securitization imperatives can be seen not only at external and externalized borders, but also at the internal borders in the Netherlands. Here, humanitarian organizations that sprang up to support migrants without a legal status in response to – and given their disagreement with – the state’s exclusionary migration policies have become involved in migration control. During a gradual and subtle responsibilization process, the Dutch authorities have used specific measures and redirected monetary flows in order to incorporate these organizations into its broader migration control policies. This has resulted in a decrease in the number of support organizations for unauthorized migrants, a reduction in their independence and autonomy, and an increased focus on selection and return. Ethnographic fieldwork amongst unauthorized migrants illustrates the consequences of this exclusionary control. These migrants experience exclusion, selection and enforcement by humanitarian organizations and doubt the trustworthiness of these organizations. This development seems to fit in with the broader trend of European states disarming humanitarian organizations for unauthorized migrants by either responsibilizing or criminalizing them. However, these strategies are not without consequences because they run the risk that unauthorized migrants will further withdraw and turn away from this type of assistance altogether. We use both a humanitarian and a pragmatic perspective to argue that it would make sense for states either to allow organizations to continue their – uncompromised and unconditional – support for unauthorized migrants or to adapt their migration policies in such a way that humanitarian support becomes redundant.
Highlights
The unaccompanied minor Magomed1 arrives early 2013 in the Netherlands and claims asylum
His asylum application is rejected and he has to return to his home country, but he stays unauthorized in the Netherlands. As he is struggling with the pains of being unauthorized, he goes in and out of immigration detention and is anxious about his future. He has one safe haven, which is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides him with housing and legal assistance
Magomed feels indignant and betrayed by his ‘father’, who knows that it is impossible for him to return. He does not understand the NGO’s changed mood other than the fact that the NGO is dependent on governmental money linked to unauthorized migrants’ return
Summary
The unaccompanied minor Magomed1 arrives early 2013 in the Netherlands and claims asylum. These internal controls made some migrants without a legal status (temporarily) dependent on the material and non-material support of humanitarian organizations (Staring and Kox, 2016; Van der Leun and Bouter, 2015).
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