Kheira Arrouche | University of Leeds (original) (raw)
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Books by Kheira Arrouche
Trends in Organized Crime, 2023
This special issue of Trends in Organized Crime brings together recent empirical research on migr... more This special issue of Trends in Organized Crime brings together recent empirical research on migrant smuggling. Challenging the overemphasis on criminal networks that has long characterized mainstream discussions on smuggling, and which gained renewed traction during the pandemic, the contributions refocus our attention towards critical but underexamined dynamics present in the facilitation of irregular migration in corridors around the world. The contributors demonstrate how the excessive attention to the persona of the smuggler present in smuggling research and migration policy has led to the invisibility of the mobility efforts facilitated by other critical actors –most notably, migrants themselves. Furthermore, using intersectionality-informed approaches, the authors shed light on the roles lesser examined elements in smuggling like race, ethnicity, class, gender, sex and intimacy play in irregular migration, often becoming key determinants in the ability of a person to migrate.
Euromesco Joint Policy Studies Series, 2021
The study is divided into four chapters. Chapter one identifies policy-makers’ understanding of m... more The study is divided into four chapters. Chapter one identifies policy-makers’ understanding of migrant smuggling and its implications in light of the forthcoming EU migration package. Chapter two examines the use of social media by law enforcement in counter-smuggling operations and its ethical implications. Chapter three identifies the impacts of counter-smuggling activities in Niger, and the ways they have impacted the lives of migrant transporters and other merchants – in particular, women – who benefited from the presence of migrants. The fourth and closing chapter examines how irregular departures from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have been organised over the last year in spite of the pandemic, and the implications of the facilitation of irregular migration for migrants.
Papers by Kheira Arrouche
Trends in Organized Crime, 2023
There has been scant examination into how West and Central African migrants experience and respo... more There has been scant examination into how West and Central African migrants
experience and respond to migration enforcement and counter-smuggling policies in
the context of Algeria. In recent years, Algeria’s opaque migratory policies against
both irregular migrants and all mechanisms facilitating their mobility –including
incarceration and removal to remote parts of the country—have intensified. Drawing
on ethnographic fieldwork, I examine migrants’ responses and encounters with
the migrant community structures in Algeria. While navigating the state’s punitive
policies, migrants also negotiate their daily lives and immobility experiences within
particular social places where they become implicated in different forms of intimate
economies, care and kinship, and reciprocity. In this paper, I examine two particular
ambivalent social spaces: the ghetto, and the maquis or nganda, introduced by the
migrant community in the context of migration enforcement and counter-smuggling
controls. I provide an understanding of the role of solidarity and support provided
by these spaces, which challenges and goes beyond their conventional perception
as inherently exploitative. In addition, I look closely at labour intimacies framed as
‘pairing’ or ‘contra de décharge,’ which involve the affective entanglements present
in male and female migrants’ mobility experiences. As the ghetto and the maquis
support the migrants in mitigating the impact of the state’s policies and uncertainty
during their im-mobility, it is also important to take into consideration their role
in reproducing vulnerabilities due to the unequal power hierarchies and gendered
dynamics that characterise their structural organisation.
“Towards sustainable and mutually beneficial migration partnerships in the Southern Mediterranean”
CEPS Policy Brief No. 2021-01, 2021
Following the European Commission’s recent release of its Renewed EU Action Plan Against Migrant ... more Following the European Commission’s recent release of its Renewed EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling (2021-2025), we take stock of key insights arising from recent and ongoing research on the facilitation of irregular migration. The EU’s counter-smuggling policies equate irregular migration to a crime, while disregarding that safe, orderly and regular pathways for refugees and other migrants are hard to access. The Renewed EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling (2021-2025) exacerbates the risks that refugees and other migrants face by penalising those who assist them. Civil society actors, family members and communities that act out of compassion or provide basic services in transit and destination countries continue to be investigated and prosecuted as ‘migrant smugglers’.
We call for more nuanced policy responses to migrant smuggling that are compliant with human rights and backed by empirical research. We recommend that the European Commission conducts a thorough human rights impact assessment of this Renewed EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling and related Anti-Smuggling Operational Partnerships with third countries. The EU must narrow down its criminal definition of ‘facilitation of irregular migration’ to conform with the UN Migrant Smuggling protocol’s protection of family members, humanitarians and other bona fide actors by including an ‘unjust enrichment’ motive. We reiterate that all smuggled refugees and other migrants, regardless of how they reach their destination, must be exempt from criminalisation. We stress that returns, entry-bans and pushbacks should never be seen as counter-smuggling measures as they only increase the demand for migrant smuggling. Thus, we call on EU policy makers to create and enhance safe, orderly and regular pathways in light of the commitments under the UN Global Compacts for Migration and on Refugees.
This paper falls within the scope of the ASILE H2020 Project (Global Asylum Governance and the EU's Role in Implementing the UN Global Compact on Refugees). For more information please visit: www.asileproject.eu The ASILE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement nº 870787. This document reflects only the author's view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
CEPS Policy Briefs, 2021
This paper falls within the scope of the ASILE H2020 Project (Global Asylum Governance and the EU... more This paper falls within the scope of the ASILE H2020 Project (Global Asylum Governance and the EU's Role in Implementing the UN Global Compact on Refugees). For more information please visit: www.asileproject.eu The ASILE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement nº 870787. This document reflects only the author's view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Trends in Organized Crime, 2023
This special issue of Trends in Organized Crime brings together recent empirical research on migr... more This special issue of Trends in Organized Crime brings together recent empirical research on migrant smuggling. Challenging the overemphasis on criminal networks that has long characterized mainstream discussions on smuggling, and which gained renewed traction during the pandemic, the contributions refocus our attention towards critical but underexamined dynamics present in the facilitation of irregular migration in corridors around the world. The contributors demonstrate how the excessive attention to the persona of the smuggler present in smuggling research and migration policy has led to the invisibility of the mobility efforts facilitated by other critical actors –most notably, migrants themselves. Furthermore, using intersectionality-informed approaches, the authors shed light on the roles lesser examined elements in smuggling like race, ethnicity, class, gender, sex and intimacy play in irregular migration, often becoming key determinants in the ability of a person to migrate.
Euromesco Joint Policy Studies Series, 2021
The study is divided into four chapters. Chapter one identifies policy-makers’ understanding of m... more The study is divided into four chapters. Chapter one identifies policy-makers’ understanding of migrant smuggling and its implications in light of the forthcoming EU migration package. Chapter two examines the use of social media by law enforcement in counter-smuggling operations and its ethical implications. Chapter three identifies the impacts of counter-smuggling activities in Niger, and the ways they have impacted the lives of migrant transporters and other merchants – in particular, women – who benefited from the presence of migrants. The fourth and closing chapter examines how irregular departures from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have been organised over the last year in spite of the pandemic, and the implications of the facilitation of irregular migration for migrants.
Trends in Organized Crime, 2023
There has been scant examination into how West and Central African migrants experience and respo... more There has been scant examination into how West and Central African migrants
experience and respond to migration enforcement and counter-smuggling policies in
the context of Algeria. In recent years, Algeria’s opaque migratory policies against
both irregular migrants and all mechanisms facilitating their mobility –including
incarceration and removal to remote parts of the country—have intensified. Drawing
on ethnographic fieldwork, I examine migrants’ responses and encounters with
the migrant community structures in Algeria. While navigating the state’s punitive
policies, migrants also negotiate their daily lives and immobility experiences within
particular social places where they become implicated in different forms of intimate
economies, care and kinship, and reciprocity. In this paper, I examine two particular
ambivalent social spaces: the ghetto, and the maquis or nganda, introduced by the
migrant community in the context of migration enforcement and counter-smuggling
controls. I provide an understanding of the role of solidarity and support provided
by these spaces, which challenges and goes beyond their conventional perception
as inherently exploitative. In addition, I look closely at labour intimacies framed as
‘pairing’ or ‘contra de décharge,’ which involve the affective entanglements present
in male and female migrants’ mobility experiences. As the ghetto and the maquis
support the migrants in mitigating the impact of the state’s policies and uncertainty
during their im-mobility, it is also important to take into consideration their role
in reproducing vulnerabilities due to the unequal power hierarchies and gendered
dynamics that characterise their structural organisation.
“Towards sustainable and mutually beneficial migration partnerships in the Southern Mediterranean”
CEPS Policy Brief No. 2021-01, 2021
Following the European Commission’s recent release of its Renewed EU Action Plan Against Migrant ... more Following the European Commission’s recent release of its Renewed EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling (2021-2025), we take stock of key insights arising from recent and ongoing research on the facilitation of irregular migration. The EU’s counter-smuggling policies equate irregular migration to a crime, while disregarding that safe, orderly and regular pathways for refugees and other migrants are hard to access. The Renewed EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling (2021-2025) exacerbates the risks that refugees and other migrants face by penalising those who assist them. Civil society actors, family members and communities that act out of compassion or provide basic services in transit and destination countries continue to be investigated and prosecuted as ‘migrant smugglers’.
We call for more nuanced policy responses to migrant smuggling that are compliant with human rights and backed by empirical research. We recommend that the European Commission conducts a thorough human rights impact assessment of this Renewed EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling and related Anti-Smuggling Operational Partnerships with third countries. The EU must narrow down its criminal definition of ‘facilitation of irregular migration’ to conform with the UN Migrant Smuggling protocol’s protection of family members, humanitarians and other bona fide actors by including an ‘unjust enrichment’ motive. We reiterate that all smuggled refugees and other migrants, regardless of how they reach their destination, must be exempt from criminalisation. We stress that returns, entry-bans and pushbacks should never be seen as counter-smuggling measures as they only increase the demand for migrant smuggling. Thus, we call on EU policy makers to create and enhance safe, orderly and regular pathways in light of the commitments under the UN Global Compacts for Migration and on Refugees.
This paper falls within the scope of the ASILE H2020 Project (Global Asylum Governance and the EU's Role in Implementing the UN Global Compact on Refugees). For more information please visit: www.asileproject.eu The ASILE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement nº 870787. This document reflects only the author's view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
CEPS Policy Briefs, 2021
This paper falls within the scope of the ASILE H2020 Project (Global Asylum Governance and the EU... more This paper falls within the scope of the ASILE H2020 Project (Global Asylum Governance and the EU's Role in Implementing the UN Global Compact on Refugees). For more information please visit: www.asileproject.eu The ASILE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement nº 870787. This document reflects only the author's view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.