Criminalisation of solidarity on Lesbos: A qualitative study into the becoming - and continuation of CoS on Lesbos
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2024-07-30
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en
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This thesis tries to gain more insight into the criminalisation of solidarity among civil society organisations and human rights defenders on Lesbos, in Greece. It does so by analysing the genealogy and forms of criminalisation on Lesbos, using a mixed methods qualitative research design.
The prosecution of civil society organisations (CSO) and individual (migrant) human rights defenders (HRD) for acting in solidarity with migrants is called the criminalisation of solidarity. At the root of this phenomenon lies the criminalisation of migration itself, also called ‘crimmigration’. The criminalisation of solidarity starts with the processes of ‘bordering’, ‘ordering’ and ‘othering’. These narratives cause segregation and the dysfunctionality of the European border architecture. Van Houtum and Van Naerssen (2002) divide the border mechanisms in a paper border, iron border and the border camp.. The focus lies on the paper border, which consists of a collection of laws which make it harder and dangerous for migrants to enter the European, and for solidarists to help them. This manifests itself in the shrinking of civic space: the existence of civil society organisations decreases the risk on human rights violations.
Due to a lack of solidarity among Member States in the European Union, Greece became the ‘gatekeeper’ of the EU during the ‘migration crisis’. For a long time, Greece had no decent reception system in place, which resulted in overcrowded refugee camps with terrible living conditions. Meanwhile, the European approach on the countering of human smuggling was paradoxal, simultaneously reinforcing smuggling activities as undermining their own values of equality, freedom and dignity. Therewith creating leeway for the criminalisation of solidarity.
The impact of this on civil society organisations on Lesbos is big, as was concluded from interviews with two civil society members active on the island, who both have experienced a great deal of criminalisation of solidarity. A distinction is made between large international CSO’s and grassroot local CSO’s. Whereas international CSO’s have more leverage on Greek authorities, the Greek CSO’s are more promising for asylum seekers on the long term. The most important thing is cooperation between CSO’s, since this is the only way they can stand a chance against the criminalisation of solidarity. A beautiful example of a small CSO on Lesbos is Lesvos Solidarity, which stimulates the integration of migrants on the island. Simultaneously, they are very sensitive to criminalisation, due to their efforts to help the migrants in such a way.
Based on the collected data, six forms of criminalisation of solidarity on Lesbos were distinguished. On the one hand indirect criminalisation happens through administrative restrictions, negative discourse and intimidation. On the other side, criminalisation is more direct through prosecution, the constraint of the freedom of expression, assembly and association and violence. From this selection, administrative obstacles and intimidation seem to be the most common on Lesbos.
It is concluded that the effect of the criminalisation of solidarity on civil society organisations and individual (migrant) human rights defenders on Lesbos is very big. It is so powerful that due to the extent of the past criminalisation, there are no more CSO’s present on the beaches of Lesbos, and existing CSO’s are struggling to keep their heads up in the administrative and legal requirements. Resulting in a lack of solidarity, help and resources for irregular migrants on Lesbos. Only an improvement of independent human rights monitoring and a more enabling environment for CSO’s can help solve this problem.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen