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The Case of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Calais, France

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ISSN 1653-2244 INSTITUTIONEN FÖR KULTURANTROPOLOGI OCH ETNOLOGI DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY Stories That Cut Across: The Case of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Calais, France By Ismael Omer 2018 MASTERUPPSATSER I KULTURANTROPOLOGI Nr 89 i Abstract In this thesis, I sought to accomplish two things. First, the thesis is written in a reflexive and even an auto-ethnographic manner. It invites the reader to follow the ethnographer through the metamorphosis of the study, from the point of conception, through the ethnographic fieldwork to the interpretation and, finally, to the presentation of the result. Doing so was an attempt to give the reader a vivid understanding of the process of making an ethnographic text. The ambition with auto-ethnographic dimension is to unveil and problematize the condition for ethnographic fieldwork, as well as to add nuance to the stories of my informants. Second, the thesis strives to answer a simple question: why the UK? The genesis of the question finds its roots in the departure of my friend Kanan, and it was by tracing Kanan‘s journey that I found myself in Calais. By focusing on a transit zone like Calais, I have aimed to depart from a dualist approach of migration theories that only focus on destination and origin countries as their analytical points of reference and to present the everyday experiences of exile and statelessness as a continuous journey. The conduit for examining the experiences of my informants will be Chris Dolan‘s concept of social torture. Through the concept of social torture, Chris Dolan interlinks the exercise of everyday violence and abuse on a mass scale and torture by focussing on the impacts of such acts on the individual‘s body and mind. By doing so, Dolan identifies debility, dependency, dread and disorientation as the four impacts to identify a victim of social torture. The daily life experiences of my informants in Calais were that of social torture. In this regard, I seek to show how social torture was an apparatus used to force unwanted populations from the French territory and into the UK and other European countries. Keywords: Social torture, transit migration, immigration, refugees, asylum seekers, Calais, France, UK, EU ii Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv Abbreviation ................................................................................................................................... v Preface: face-off ............................................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Contextualising the study ............................................................................................................ 1 Aim and Objective of the Study .................................................................................................. 6 Theoretical Framework: Social Torture ...................................................................................... 8 Conceptualising Torture .......................................................................................................... 9 Outline of the Thesis ................................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 2: The Field and Fieldwork Methods .............................................................................. 22 Field Site ................................................................................................................................... 22 Research Design ........................................................................................................................ 23 Entry to the Field ....................................................................................................................... 25 Participant observation and Data Collection ............................................................................. 26 Reflexive Ethnography .............................................................................................................. 27 Challenges on the Field ............................................................................................................. 29 Field Ethics ............................................................................................................................ 30 Legal consideration ................................................................................................................ 32 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................................ 35 Chapter 3: Background of the Study ............................................................................................. 37 Chapter 4: Welcome to Calais: Governing the Undesirables ....................................................... 58 Chapter 5: Social Networks .......................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 6: Perception of the UK ................................................................................................... 97 Chapter 7: Breaking the Ritual: Field Identity and the Rites of Passage in Ethnographic Research ..................................................................................................................................................... 113 Chapter 8: Conclusion................................................................................................................. 126 Post-face: Face off (Leaving the Field) ...................................................................................... 131 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 138 iii Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank all my informants for sharing their experiences and stories, without which this thesis could not have materialised. My informants made this study possible not only by breaking their silence so I can conceptualise my research question but also in giving me access to other people. Thus, they made me feel welcomed like I was a guest on the streets of Calais, Isbergues and Paris, and for that, I am forever grateful. To Sverker Finnström, my supervisor, thank you for your unbelievable patience and belief in me and for your suggestions, guidance and wisdom that helped me mould this thesis coherently. I could not have asked for a better supervisor. I would also like to thank you for making my fieldwork possible by assisting me to access the grant for the research, through the 2012-2015 research node on conflict, Faculty of Arts, Uppsala University. I would also like to thank my friends Birhanu Woldegiorgis, Hande Çakınel, Leonardo Alves and Fabio Provenzano who encouraged me and took the time to read my thesis and provide suggestions and constructive criticisms. Thank you to my family for their endless love and support, I am lucky to have you all. And finally, I would like to thank my partner Gabriella Tekin, who has been my anchor through thick and thin. I am forever grateful for your unwavering love and support; you will always be part of all my achievements. Ismael iv Abbreviation CEAS: Common European Asylum System CESEDA: Code de l'entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d'asile CRS: Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité EC: European Council ECRE: European Council on Refugees and Exiles EU: European Union IOM: International Organization for Migration NGO: Non-governmental organisations OECD: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development UN: United Nations UK: United Kingdom UNHCR: United Nations Human Rights Council UNCAT: United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment v Preface: face-off On the 18th of July 2012, I found myself travelling on a German highway. Though the 29- hour bus ride had just begun, I was already feeling disoriented and cramped. As the bus slowly came to a halt, fear and regret consumed me once more. I knew what was coming! My visa had expired over two weeks ago and with it my right to be in Germany and the Schengen area as a whole. Watching the police make their way into the bus I was certain that it was the end of the road. That hot summer afternoon on the side of a highway, I thought my journey would end in a detention centre. Detention centres were not new to me since I frequently visited my informants in Calais, but this time it was different. If I ended up in a detention centre, it would not be for an interview or a friendly visit. In a strange twist of fate, following some unfortunate events, I found myself unwittingly transformed into the very subject I set out to study, an “illegal” migrant, a„Homo Sacer‟1. Passport and visa, he said, the tall German policeman with his eyes fixed on me. Well, this is it, I thought. As I reached to hand him my passport with my sweaty and unsteady palms, I kept thinking about how I had ended up here. Just over a year ago I was still searching for my academic interests; I barely had an interest in researching ―illegal‖ immigration, let alone
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