Sea Battlegrounds for Solidarity

This caravan will explore, through participatory methodology and volunteering, how states act in two key areas of border enforcement and transgression: the central Mediterranean route and the corridor between Greece and Turkey. Lampedusa, Samos, and Kos will be considered as the main nodes and backstage areas of both solidarity and state-driven hostility.

Figure 1. Legenda: A violent pushback by the so called Libyan Coast Guard

The sea is a crucial battleground where solidarity organisations confront EU border policies. Over the past ten years, a social movement comprising crews, vessels, aeroplanes, and other technologies has emerged to support people crossing the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. At the same time, islands and coastal communities have been transformed into borderlands due to the widespread presence of facilities, hotspots, police personnel, and EU agencies such as Frontex and EASO.

Researchers

E. Fravega, R. Ghaffari, L. Korukmez and L. Queirolo Palmas
With the participation of: S. Potot (University of Nice), L. Giliberti (University of Parma) and Efrosini Plexousaki (Aegean University)