Asylum In Crisis: Migrant Policy, Entrapment, And The Role Of Non-Governmental Organisations In Siracusa, Italy

Keywords

EU migration policy; Healthcare; Italy; Refugees

Abstract

As a result of political and economic instability in Africa and the Middle East, Europe has experienced an unprecedented influx of migrants. Southern European nations have, in particular, seen substantial number of arrivals as a result of their geographic proximity to migrants' countries of origin. Siracusa, a city in south-eastern Sicily, has become a major point of activity and arrival for displaced persons. Based on six months of ethnographic research with migrants and non-governmental organisations conducted in refugee camps in Siracusa, Italy, in 2015, this article illuminates the asylumseeking process, focusing on first reception centres. It argues that although the European Union has generally progressive refugee policies, their poor implementation in Siracusa has produced significant disjunctions between policy intentions and realities on the ground. This, in turn, generates a need for ever-growing involvement of nongovernmental organisations to take on the provision of healthcare and legal services to migrants. Moreover, substandard conditions and legal stalemates entrap migrants in the temporary camps. This analysis is contextualised within neo-liberal economic policies in austerity era Europe. This article contributes to theoretical and ethnographic perspectives of migration in Southern Europe and illuminates concerns related to human rights and healthcare policy in the area.

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Publication Title

Refugee Survey Quarterly

Volume

35

Issue

4

Number of Pages

97-121

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdw017

Socpus ID

85016194612 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85016194612

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