Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Sensitive Content in This Book
- Contents
- Series Editors' Preface
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Politics of Deterrence and Closed Borders
- 2 Intergenerational Harms: Border Memories and Genealogies of Harm
- 3 Quarantine Continuum: Medicalization of Borders and the Securitization of Migration and Health
- 4 Mundane Surrealism: Bureaucratic Deterrence, Violence and Suffering
- 5 Necroharms: Obscene and Grotesque Violence
- 6 Thanatoharms: Governing Migration through Violence and Death
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Sensitive Content in This Book
- Contents
- Series Editors' Preface
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Politics of Deterrence and Closed Borders
- 2 Intergenerational Harms: Border Memories and Genealogies of Harm
- 3 Quarantine Continuum: Medicalization of Borders and the Securitization of Migration and Health
- 4 Mundane Surrealism: Bureaucratic Deterrence, Violence and Suffering
- 5 Necroharms: Obscene and Grotesque Violence
- 6 Thanatoharms: Governing Migration through Violence and Death
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
Despite the political visibility and media attention that the Moria hotspot has attracted as the infamous ‘refugee camp’ for thousands of border crossers, until its formal ‘death’, it was in reality an open site for some, an overnight residence for some others and a closed detention for only a few. Apart from the detainees, including the unaccompanied minors, who were not allowed to move outside the premises of the Moria hotspot, all the rest were authorized to move within Lesvos and outside the Moria hotspot using an official document produced by the Greek authorities. In their everyday encounters with the state, the official document was commonly referred to by border crossers, volunteers and practitioners as the ‘Mytilene paper’. The Mytilene paper was used alongside other official legal documents and technically played the role of identity card or passport, but without allowing its holders to cross borders and travel to the Greek mainland or elsewhere. It was not recognized as an official document outside of the island. It was also an indicator of residency restrictions, showing whether border crossers were obliged to stay overnight in the Moria hotspot, Kara Tepe camp or other formal site or accommodation. Although almost all border crossers obtained the Mytilene paper and had the right to freely move within the prison island, they were repeatedly stopped, controlled, arrested and intimidated. In 2021 the Mytilene paper, being associated with the Moria hotspot, faded away along with the hotspot itself. After the destruction of the Moria camp and the establishment of Moria 2.0, the Mytilene paper was replaced with another informal document – a registration card – that regulated border crossers’ autonomy of movement in/outside the camp. As Omid, an Afghan living in Moria 2.0, told me: “People are allowed to leave the camp only for three hours per week or when there is an emergency – for example, appointments with doctors or to see a lawyer. Their going out depends on the last three digits of their registration card.” However, even in this case, border crossers who were allowed to get out of the Moria 2.0 camp were frequently stopped and searched by police and many times were forced to return back to the camp.
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- Information
- Border Harms and Everyday ViolenceA Prison Island in Europe, pp. 155 - 163Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2023