Transnational moralities: the politics of ir/responsibility of and against the EU border regime

ABSTRACT

The death of Alan Kurdi, the boy washed ashore in Turkey in September 2015, provoked a global moral outcry. The pictures of the toddler went viral across social networks and in the media. Following these images across borders, we analyse moral and political responses to the ‘EU refugee crisis’ by illuminating the circumstances under which people feel, take on, and demand responsibility. Considering EU policies and their lethal consequences as mechanisms of an organised irresponsibility, we show how the circulation and modification of the images played on moral sentiments and on political demands in Europe and across the Mediterranean. The anthropological engagement with transnational moralities contributes to the analysis of politics of ir/responsibility of and against the EU border regime.

KEYWORDS:

• Responsibility
• transnational flows
• moral economy
• moral sentiments
• Turkey
• EU border regime

Acknowledgments

For critical and careful comments, we thank the editors of this special issue Petra Dannecker and Sara de Jong as well as Annika Lems, Paul Reade, and the anonymous reviewers, for copy-editing Julene Knox. The studies were funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the University of Bern. The authors contributed equally to this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Interview with Nilüfer Demir at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECtMDoO333U .

2. Between 2011 and 2017, Turkey registered more than 3 million refugees (UNHCR http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php) .

3. While Turkey’s regulations on ‘temporary protection’ were inspired by the EU Temporary Protection Directive (2001), the regulations in force do not resemble the framework laid down by the EU. http://www.asylumineurope.org/reports/country/turkey/2011-2014-temporary-protection-based-political-discretion-and-improvisation .

4. https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/they-died-in-my-arms-father-of-drowned-migrant-boy-speaks-out/article26207543/?ref = http://www.theglobeandmail.com&https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/they-died-in-my-arms-father-of-drowned-migrant-boy-speaks-out/article26207543/?ref = http://www.theglobeandmail.com&.

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = G9BSD7anl6s.

6. Sixth Report on the Progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement, Strasbourg, 13.6.2017 COM(2017) 323 final; https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/170613_6th_report_on_the_progress_made_in_the_implementation_of_the_eu-turkey_statement_en.pdf.

7. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/01/alan-kurdi-death-one-year-on-compassion-towards-refugees-fades .

8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = e1MrNlxrqfw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = OGkCr2gGudQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = ROlXiBOGC3E.

9. http://www.timesofisrael.com/gazans-pay-tribute-to-drowned-syrian-toddler-with-sand-sculpture/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = q4VUnLVQZOc.

10. According to Sarah Wolff this is the most polemical clause of the agreements with third countries perpetuating the chain of readmission (2014, 3).

11. European Commission/Fact Sheet; http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-4321_en.htm.

12. UNHCR on EU-Turkey Deal; http://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2016/3/56ec533e9/unhcr-eu-turkey-deal-asylum-safeguards-must-prevail-implementation.html.

13. Annual Report on the Facility for Refugees in Turkey COM(2017)130 final.

14. http://www.halklarinkoprusu.org.

15. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/01/photo-of-my-dead-son-has-changed-nothing-says-father-of-drowned/.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the SNSF [149368].