567409
research-article2015
RAC0010.1177/0306396814567409Race & ClassTrubeta
SAGE
Los Angeles,
London,
New Delhi,
Singapore,
Washington DC
‘Rights’ in the grey area:
undocumented border
crossers on Lesvos
Sevasti Trubeta
Abstract: The Aegean island of Lesvos is one of the gateways that refugees and
undocumented border crossers use for entering European territory. This study
deals with two phenomena related to border crossings on Lesvos: first, the efforts
of those arriving to be placed in the status of ‘administrative detention’ in order
to receive an expulsion order and then be able to continue their journey; and,
second, the activity of the local solidarity network, which initially established
an open reception centre for refugees and undocumented immigrants under the
umbrella of the civil society, until some activists agreed to put this project under
the jurisdiction of the state authorities. In reflecting on these developments, the
author addresses two major issues: first, immigration imprisonment as a facet of
‘positive power’ in the Foucauldian sense, and the possible relationship of the
latter to grassroots humanitarian commitment; and, second, specific facets of
the current paradigm of immigration imprisonment that can help explain why
detention may be interpreted as a right by refugees and immigrants. The author
argues that the humanitarianism that arises in the interface of surveillance and
the provision of care demonstrates post-bureaucratic features; and further, that
Sevasti Trubeta is currently Professor for Sociology at the University of the Aegean (Greece). She
studied and earned her PhD in Sociology at Humboldt University, Berlin. She has published three
monographs, several edited volumes and articles on refugees, immigrants, minorities, humanitarianism and eugenics, with a regional focus on South Eastern Europe, in English, German and
Greek. Her most recent monograph is Physical Anthropology, Race and Eugenics in Greece,
1880s-1970s (Brill Academic Publishers, 2013).
Race & Class
Copyright © 2015 Institute of Race Relations, Vol. 56(4): 56–72
10.1177/0306396814567409 http://rac.sagepub.com
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