No abstract

This article explores unaccompanied adolescent minors’ (UAMs) experiences of deterrent practices at internal EU borders while being on the move. Previous studies have acknowledged the securitisation of external borders through gatekeeping and fencing practices; however, there is a recent and continued renationalisation of internal EU borders by the member states. Like other migrants who are travelling irregularly, UAMs also often face harsh living conditions and repeated rights violations in border areas, regardless of their specific rights to protection and psychological needs. Research has called for a renewed focus on migrant children’s experiences as active agents at the borders, but until now studies exploring UAMs’ experiences at internal EU borders remain scarce. Drawing on Agamben’s notion of “legal exception,” we seek to explore how deterrent practices are confusingly intertwined and affect UAMs’ psychological wellbeing and subjectivities in the Ventimiglia border space. Participant observations and in-depth interviews conducted with UAMs at the French-Italian border provide unique insights into how these bordering practices affect migrant children’s legal and psychological safety and reshape their subjectivities. This contribution highlights UAMs’ conflicting needs and feelings of institutional “abandonment” when left without institutional welfare protection in the border space, on the one hand, and feeling pressured to act responsibly towards their relatives, on the other.

No abstract

La contribución presenta una investigación de campo multinacional llevada a cabo entre 2011 y 2012 que explora las condiciones de vida y las razones explicativas de la situación que viven los denominados 'menores extranjeros no acompañados' que se encuentran sin protección en diferentes Estados europeos (Bélgica, España, Francia e Italia). El artículo aborda en primer lugar una serie de aspectos metodológicos (logros, límites, posibles pistas) que pueden resultar útiles en futuras investigaciones de esta población. En una segunda parte se presenta un resumen de los principales resultados que muestra la heterogeneidad de perfiles encontrados, las diferentes condiciones de vida de esta población en función del contexto geográfico estudiado y, finalmente, las principales razones y factores que determinan su situación de desprotección institucional y de consiguiente exclusión social.

No abstract