Abstract
Differently from studies that analyze antideportation struggles in relation to concepts of state sovereignty and (un)making of citizenship, this paper focuses more on intersection of politics and body. It discusses struggle for the “place in the world” as an embodied experience. Ahmad Shamieh came to Slovenia in 2016 through the humanitarian corridor on the Balkan route. The Slovene Ministry of the Interior refused to examine his asylum claim and instead issued him a Dublin Regulation decision, stating that he was to be deported to Croatia. Ahmad’s and his supporters’ legal and political struggle, which lasted several years, prevented his deportation. In contrast to state’s politics of exclusion, causing dehumanization and traumatization the grassroots community struggle developed the politics of inclusion, solidarity and care from below, in practice transforming the conditions of belonging.
Highlights
Due to his antideportation campaign, Ahmad Shamieh happened to be the most famous refugee in Slovenia
June 2016, after 4 months of active waiting, the Ministry of the Interior sent him a Dublin regulation decision1, that Slovenia would not examine his asylum application and that he was to be deported to Croatia despite he travelled through state controlled corridor
He pulled a small plastic bag out of his pocket and showed them to us. His pulled out teeth will be used as evidence in court in the damage compensation lawsuit against the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants for curtailing his rights as an asylum seeker, when they prevented him entry and stay in the Centre for Asylum Seekers. His teeth are an illustration of how Slovenia treats refugees, when they start using the “legal and political language” of the state, when they take voice to claim the right to international protection
Summary
Due to his antideportation campaign, Ahmad Shamieh happened to be the most famous refugee in Slovenia. Brumen and Meh 2016; Kogovšek Šalamon 2017; Zaviršek 2017), in this article his personal story over the right to stay in Slovenia will be presented drawing on the concepts of deportability and embodiment of political violence, radical autonomy and community care. The article is based on six narrative interviews and it combines the personal experience of Ahmad Shamieh, some of the theoretical concepts and chronology of the legal proceedings to exclude and expel him. It describes in detail the anti/deportation spectacle, which includes both the power that the state has over an individual and the prevention of Ahmad’s deportation by himself and his supporters. We explicate the connectivity of the embodiment, deportability and autonomous struggles
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