1 Scuola Normale SuperioreRefugees and forced migrants in the Western Balkans. Civic response to the refugee crisis in the Yugoslav successor states Chiara Milan Scuola Normale Superiore 2nd Annual Conference of the Western Balkans Migration Network “Migration in the Western Balkans: What do we know?”
2 Outline the Western Balkans route: an overviewGrassroots responses to the refugee crisis: What kind of activism? Which factors account for civic response and cross-movement coalitions? Conclusions
3 Methodology WB route: September 2015-March 2016In-depth interviews with key informants (activists, journalists, volunteers, refugees) Participant observation in the parks of Belgrade Under the umbrella of the ERC-funded project “Collective action and the refugee crisis”
4 The Western Balkans routeWB corridor (late August 2015-March 2016) Closure of the Hungarian-Serbian and Hungarian-Croatian border (Sept. 2015) 760,000 migrants (2015)
5 Pro-refugee activism during the long summer of migrationNew actors, and already existing ones (human rights associations and groups; left-libertarian parties; solidarity movements; religious organizations) Mobilization across gender, national belonging and class
6 Macedonia, the entry pointNGO Legis, NGO MYLA advocacy SOLIDARNOST left-wing organization Help the refugees in Macedonia FB page – virtual platform
7 Serbia, the bottleneck Refugee Aid Miksalište: first-aid, distribution centre Infopark: first-aid, food distribution, legal information
8 No border Serbia self- organized initiatives, contentious actions (NoNo border Serbia self- organized initiatives, contentious actions (No border hostel) Refugees’ protests and the March of Hope July 2016, October 2016
9 Croatia, a forced transit countryWelcome! Initiative advocacy platform, legal support, policy proposals Are you Syrious? group first-aid, distribution group, “informal and friend-based network”, daily digests
10 Slovenia, the last transit hubROG Autonomous Social Center –Anti-racist front without borders Central node for migrant organizing Second home: self- organized migrants place
11 Which factors account for the civic response?Emotions Space Resources
12 1) Emotional component Background as refugees or personal experience of displacement Identification with the migrants collective memory of forced displacement attribution of similarity that creates emotional linkages assignment of a common meaning
13 2) Space WB as countries of transit rather than countries of destination Position along the migrant route favoured the perception of a temporary migration -> migrants did not constitute a threat Migration framed as humanitarian rather than economic
14 3) Resources Activating existing networks -> re- activating networks at the community level Social media platforms -> facilitated the creation of coalitions in absence of direct relational ties
15 Conclusions CS response vs. state response New subjectsShifting focus of the existing ones Cross-national coalitions Online networking
16 Temporary nature of refugees’ presence (and passage)targeted actions no long-term strategies loose and ephemeral networks
17 Thanks for your attention!