Medical aid as protest: acts of citizenship for unauthorized im/migrants and refugees

Abstract

This article examines organized efforts by citizens to provide medical aid to unauthorized migrants in Germany. A case study of an activist organization in Berlin highlights how prevailing forms of governance through citizenship are disrupted. Three major themes are explored. First, historical contingencies and policy realities explain why, given examples of grassroots protest by migrants in other settings, efforts in Germany have been driven primarily by citizens. Second, migrants' biolegitimacy shapes specific ideas of relative deservingness. As a result, advocacy for some groups, such as survivors of torture or refugees from specific geopolitical settings, is more highly valued than that which addresses needs of unauthorized labor migrants. Finally, although their sustained efforts have resulted in challenges to policy and called into question prevailing notions of citizenship, medical activist organizations have become increasingly institutionalized, which may jeopardize their goals. As this case illustrates, the distinctive ethics associated with providing medical care has the ability to disrupt the scaling of citizenship by the state by treating noncitizens – especially ‘illegal’ noncitizens – ostensibly as citizens, thus protesting citizenship as the exclusive organizing principle of German society.

Keywords:

• unauthorized migrants
• Germany
• immigrant protest

Notes

1. This paper draws upon ethnographic data collected in Berlin, including participant observation in a clinic serving unauthorized migrants, interviews with migrants, physicians who treat them, and volunteer staff from 24 organizations. Information on the Berlin Office of Medical Aid for Refugees' history is derived from interviews with five women working with this organization over the past 14 years and supplemented by a report written by the organization. The information was also reviewed by two participants who provided helpful feedback on an earlier version of the article. Finally, I systematically collected and archived German-language media coverage on unauthorized migration between 2004 and 2011.

2. Although there are a variety of donation drives, two are worth mentioning here. First, the left-leaning daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung (or taz, as it is known) regularly publishes articles on undocumented persons and deportation scandals, and often includes information on donating to the Berlin MediBüro. A second source of donations is ‘Soli-Partys’ (solidarity parties) in which proceeds go to a particular cause.

3. Paragraph 92 abs 1 Nr 7 AuslG.