Title: Trapped by stand-by borders

Authors: Valeria Ferraris

Addresses: Law Department, University of Turin, Lungo Dora Siena 100, 10153, Turin

Abstract: This paper recalls what occurred between February 2011 and March 2013, respectively the beginning and the end of the so called 'North Africa emergency' and aims to underline how the changes in the configuration and meaning of territorial borders seriously affect the lives of those who had to leave a country for another, as their legal or illegal status and their rights depend on shifting administrative and migration control procedures. Starting from Weber's (2006) analysis of manipulation of borders by authorities, the paper wants to argue that in the Italian case the borders shifted to a 'stand-by' position: not really closed, not really open, since controls, when performed, had effects unforeseeable in advance, as the end of North Africa emergency shows.

Keywords: territorial borders; Italy; administrative detention; legal status; Arab Spring; irregular migrants; asylum seekers; immigrants; migration control; rights; border manipulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2014.065067

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2014 Vol.1 No.1, pp.27 - 38

Received: 03 Dec 2013
Accepted: 27 Feb 2014

Published online: 29 Oct 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article