Session 1: Borders of solidarity : migration regimes, violence, and mobilization

Since the summer of 2021, the eastern border of the European Union (EU) has become the site of migration-related humanitarian crises, first concerning people crossing borders from Belarus and more recently those fleeing the war in Ukraine. While those recent events are in many ways reminiscent of events in other zones, such as the coast of the Mediterranean, the border regions of the Balkans, or the English Channel, they also illustrate in a particularly striking way the deadly potential of an encounter between migratory dynamics and interstate conflicts. The Belarusian regime has been trying to destabilize neighboring countries by instrumentalizing migrants seeking entry into the EU. Attracted to Belarus by promises of an easier access to European states, they are then subjected to mistreatment by Belarusian law enforcement, taken to the border and pressured to cross it. Faced with this challenge, the Polish conservative government employed a warlike rhetoric and people who arrive in Poland in this way are often denied the opportunity to apply for asylum. Many are driven back to the border and abandoned in an inhospitable forest. They find themselves stuck in a no man’s land, forced to repeat the crossing over and over again in dire weather conditions. A state of emergency has been declared in the Polish regions surrounding the border, preventing access to information, but it is certain this policy has already claimed its first casualities. The army has been deployed to the area and the Polish parliament has approved the construction of a barrier along the border. At the same time, Polish civil society organized rapidly to provide assistance to migrants and asylum seekers in distress. Members of specialized NGOs, as well as local residents challenge the authorities and build networks of mutual aid, emphasizing the need to save lives. Meanwhile, the instrumentalization of migrants by the Belarusian regime also paves the way for political uses of this crisis in the EU, be it within the political arenas of member states or at the European level. In comparison, the reactions of both states and civil societies to the arrival of refugees from Ukraine have so far mainly been ones of solidarity and support, opening a series of questions about the varying porosity of borders.