Crossing the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in Search of “Protection”

ABSTRACT

This article examines two particular aspects of the 2015 “migration crisis”: the implications of EU laws and policies for refugee protection and the manner in which policy fluctuated in response to the movement of people. It explores the legal and conceptual challenges posed by protection and addresses an often-neglected dimension– that of “agency” of the individual. This contribution examines the response of policymakers/lawmakers to the “migration crisis” and contrasts this with the expectations of those migrating in search of safety and a life of dignity. The piece draws on rich interview data with new arrivals to Kos in September 2015.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugee crisis
• asylum, protection
• refugees
• Greece
• Kos
• Syrians
• agency

Notes

1. In this article, asylum denotes admission to territory, residence, and enduring protection (see Goodwin-Gill & McAdam, 2007, Ch. 7), while the meaning of protection is discussed further in this article.

2. The term refugee is often widely used in a nonlegal sense to denote someone forced to leave their country or region of origin as a result of persecution, human rights abuse, environmental disaster, or civil war.

3. Based on site observations during the research on the island of Kos.