CRIMINALISATION OF SOLIDARITY: HOW CURRENT MIGRANT POLICIES IMPACT HUMANITARIAN WORK

Abstract

This paper explores current policies of increasingly restrictive migration management in some countries, with examples from Serbia, Italy, Greece, and France, where through oppressive means, states attempt to regulate migration by making the provision of humanitarian work illegal. By analysing data collected from non-state actors, such as non-government organisations, activists, and humanitarian workers, it will examine in which ways policies can target those who work with migrants, and provide a look into inevitable changes in culture that will occur as a result of the criminalisation of providing aid. As policies such as securitisation of borders and criminalisation of providing humanitarian aid not only have drastic consequences regarding the lives of people involved, they can also reshape understanding of the rule of law, human rights, and dignity. With these developments in the broader political and cultural transformation of labour and migration governance, the paper argues that these criminalising policies undermine solidarity-based practices and contribute to changes in collective values in contemporary Europe. Finally, it examines how the suppression of humanitarian work reshapes cultural narratives around care, solidarity, and ethics in migration contexts.