Becoming a smuggler: migration and violence at EU external borders

Augustova, K. , Carrapico, H. and Obradović-Wochnik, J. (2023) Becoming a smuggler: migration and violence at EU external borders. Geopolitics, 28(2), pp. 619-640. (doi: 10.1080/14650045.2021.1961223)

Abstract

Migrants’ involvement in smuggling increases alongside restricted cross-border movement and violent borders, yet this dynamic is usually examined from migrants’ position as clients. In this article, we move away from migrants and smugglers as two separate roles and question migrants’ aspirations to and experiences of resorting to smuggling networks as workers in the context of EU land borders, where direct violence is used daily to fight cross-border crime. By doing so, we move further the examination of fluid relations in smuggling provisions and the way they are intertwined with care and exploitation, as shaped and circumscribed by violent borders. The article illustrates the intersections between border violence and migrants’ active involvement in smuggling by drawing on the case study of an anonymised Border Town and multi-site, multi-author fieldwork from Serbia and Bosnia. By questioning migrants’ experiences of shifting roles from clients to service providers, and by taking into account their work in smuggling provision, we show that, in a situation of protracted vulnerability orchestrated by border violence, state and law enforcement, the categories – “migrant” and “smugglers” – can blur.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the Aston Centre for Europe and the European Commission, Jean Monnet Programme, Jean Monnet Chair on EU-UK post Brexit internal security relations [620597-EPP-1-2020-1-UK-EPPJMO-CHAIR].
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Benghellab, Dr Karolina
• Authors: Augustova, K., Carrapico, H., and Obradović-Wochnik, J.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Geopolitics
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1465-0045
• ISSN (Online): 1557-3028
• Published Online: 11 August 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Author(s).
• First Published: First published in Geopolitics 28(2):619-640
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license