Abstract
Anecdotal evidence suggests growing numbers of migrants intercepted at sea – referred to by the Tunisian coastguard as les rescapés (the rescued) – return to Libya via smuggling. In this article I empirically document the experiences of “rescued” migrant mothers who consider and/or purposely re-engage in irregular, highrisk returns involving crossing the Tunisian border back into Libya. Employing a feminist ethnographic approach, this paper explores how undocumented motherhood is experienced and shaped in the context of EU-sponsored counter-smuggling and border enforcement. Building on fieldwork in Medénine, in southern Tunisia, I also examine the considerations of migrant mothers “stuck on the move” concerning clandestine navigation and redirection in the complicated temporal and spatial context created by international organizations and EU-sponsored forms of “protection.” I argue that border enforcement and counter-smuggling policies not only impact everyday life and mobility for undocumented mothers and their children but, as gendered practices, also trap and confine migrant mothers and their children in a cycle of protracted vulnerability, indefinite waiting, and uncertainty in which opting to travel with smugglers becomes the best bet and last resort.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Tidsskrift | Trends in Organized Crime |
Vol/bind | 26 |
Udgave nummer | 1 |
Sider (fra-til) | 30–47 |
Antal sider | 18 |
ISSN | 1084-4791 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - mar. 2023 |