States of Suspicion: How Institutionalised Disbelief Shapes Migration Control Regimes

Informing for the sake of it: legal intricacies, acceleration and suspicion in the German and Swiss migration regimes

“…For instance, clients who lack full-time employment over a prolonged period or an assumed unwillingness to take up any job cause suspicion, which affects case assessment in migration offices. While suspicion is a general modus operandi in many administrations (Borrelli, Lindberg, and Wyss 2021), we argue that it is intensified when migrants are involved; for instance, in asylum procedures, where suspicion has been shown to be a 'guiding principle of decision-makers' everyday practice' (Affolter 2021, 4).…”

“…Third, we argue that migration law is implemented in an atmosphere of suspicion that pervades the entire system -and that becomes particularly pertinent in individual encounters between migrants and state actors (Jubany 2017;Borrelli, Lindberg, and Wyss 2021). Suspicion has a negative impact on trust between migrants and state officials, as well as on transparent policy implementation (cf.…”

Navigating the European Migration Regime

“…Habteab sat down next to him and said that people are used to not trusting anyone. (Field notes, 2014) These two examples describe the ubiquity of a 'culture of suspicion' (Bohmer and Shuman, 2018;Borrelli et al, 2021a) which permeates the migration regime, both on the part of the host community that 'others' those who are not seen to belong and on the part of individuals in a precarious legal situation who must constantly weigh up whom they can trust (see also Chapters 3 and 5). The suspicion towards me within asylum structures highlight the pervasive effect that the state and borders have on interpersonal relationships.…”

“…Within asylum structures, an atmosphere of general suspicion is omnipresent (Poertner, 2017;Bohmer and Shuman, 2018;Jubany, 2018;Borrelli et al, 2021a). It infiltrates asylum hearings and determination procedures, which rely to a large extent on the 'credibility' of the motives of flight presented by asylum seekers to bureaucrats responsible for the assessment of individual cases (Good, 2007).…”

”Även om du är analfabet så antar jag att du ändå har en tidsuppfattning som alla andra.”

“…Tidigare studier har även ingående diskuterat hur kriterierna för asyl, liksom procedurerna för beviljande av asyl, är så alltigenom grundade på misstanke att det blivit fullt rimligt att hävda att det som asylprocesser faktiskt producerar är påstått falska asylsökande som enkelt kan diskvalificeras (för en tidig studie av den svenska asylprocessen, se Norström 2004; se även Jubany 2017; Bohmer & Shuman 2018;Borrelli, Lindberg & Wyss 2022). Många asylsökande diskvalificeras mot denna bakgrund på ett systematiskt sätt och omvandlas av systemet till "olagliga" och utvisningsbara "migranter".…”