with small children. The women will be transferredto the new lopen camp' that has been
established in the last few days in Mytilene,which offers better conditions and freedom
of movement.The demonstratorsinitiallycelebrate the news of the women's liberation as a
victory,but the enthusiasm withersaway as soon as we hear that the women do not want to
leave. Since the authoritiesrefusedto free also theirhusbands and fathers,the womenprefer
not to be separated fromthe men and decide to remain in Pagani. Whereand when would
theymeet theirpartnersagain? Andwhat ifthat willnot happen at all? Afterall, the women's
decision appears reasonable. A sense of frustrationremains among the activists, however,
who may also be trapped in the deceptive logic of this selective regimeof migrantdetention.
What does this storytell us about the functioningof Lesvos detention centre
withinthe overall EU policy regimeof migrationcontrols? How is the mobility
of migrantwomen,in particular,beingregulated in this specific location at the
South Easterngate of the EU?
those who 'deserve' special
The peculiar'gendertechniques' used to differentiate
treatmentin detention representimportantdevices shaping the temporal and
spatial patterns of the EU managementof migrants'mobility.How are these
techniqueslinkedto the humanitariandiscourse of a 'gentlerdetention'that No
Borderactivists are confrontedwith?
1 The UNHCR, after
the recent visit to
the centre in Lesvos
declared its
particular concern
for the detention of
minors in the centre
and denounced the
overall conditions of
detention
unacceptable for
those suffering
illness related to the
cramped and
unsanitary
conditions (UNHCR,
2009, http://
www.unhcr.org/
4a97cb719.html).
The internationalactivistsgatheredon Lesvos forthe No Bordercamp chose this
particular location not only to organize action and publicity against the
extremelypoor conditions under which the migrantsare detained,1 but also
because the island is one of the 'hot spots' wherethe tensionsand contradictions
of the EU migrationregimecoalesce and find emblematicexpression.Lesvos is
one of the maingates to the EU formigrantsmainlycomingfromAsia, Northand
EasternAfrica.Men, women and childrenoften comingfromcountriessuch as
Afghanistan,Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Eritrea,Ethiopia,Congo, are detained in
the centreuntiltheyreceivea 'whitepaper' bythe local authority.Thisdocument
is administratively
a deportationorder that allows the migrantsto board the
and
reach
Athens,wherethey may apply forasylum.At the same time the
ferry
white paper includes an obligation to leave Greece within30 days. Those who
lodge an asylum application in the mainland frequentlyface obstructive
bureaucraticproceduresand sometimesharassmentby the immigration
police in
Inthe end onlya minimalpercentage
Athens(http://lesvos09.antira.info/tag/call/).
of the asylum applications is accepted. Accordingto Human RightsWatchthe
asylumapprovalrate in the firstinstanceforall nationalitiesin 2006 was only0.6
per cent and 1. 2 per cent in 2007, out of a total of 25,000 claims (HRW,2008: 5).
Centresforthe detentionand identificationof migrantshave sprungup all over
countriesin the last decade, and are officiallydesigned
Europeand neighbouring
to facilitate the expulsionand returnof 'irregular'migrantsto theircountriesof
origin.The EU 'politics of return'reflectsthe positionof the large majorityof the
member states who deem detention and deportations as indispensable in
Gabrielia Alberti fern i n ist
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revi ew
94
2010
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