1. Scuola Normale Superiore
Refugees and forced migrants in the Western Balkans. Civic response to the refugee crisis in the Yugoslav successor states
Chiara Milan
Scuola Normale Superiore
2nd Annual Conference of the Western Balkans Migration Network
“Migration in the Western Balkans: What do we know?”

2. Outline the Western Balkans route: an overview
Grassroots responses to the refugee crisis: What kind of activism?
Which factors account for civic response and cross-movement coalitions?
Conclusions

3. Methodology WB route: September 2015-March 2016
In-depth interviews with key informants (activists, journalists, volunteers, refugees)
Participant observation in the parks of Belgrade
Under the umbrella of the ERC-funded project “Collective action and the refugee crisis”

4. The Western Balkans route
WB corridor (late August 2015-March 2016)
Closure of the Hungarian-Serbian and Hungarian-Croatian border (Sept. 2015)
760,000 migrants (2015)

5. Pro-refugee activism during the long summer of migration
New actors, and already existing ones (human rights associations and groups; left-libertarian parties; solidarity movements; religious organizations)
Mobilization across gender, national belonging and class

6. Macedonia, the entry point
NGO Legis, NGO MYLA advocacy
SOLIDARNOST left-wing organization
Help the refugees in Macedonia FB page – virtual platform

7. Serbia, the bottleneck
Refugee Aid Miksalište: first-aid, distribution centre
Infopark: first-aid, food distribution, legal information

8. No border Serbia self- organized initiatives, contentious actions (No
No border Serbia self- organized initiatives, contentious actions (No border hostel)
Refugees’ protests and the March of Hope July 2016, October 2016

9. Croatia, a forced transit country
Welcome! Initiative advocacy platform, legal support, policy proposals
Are you Syrious? group
first-aid, distribution group, “informal and friend-based network”, daily digests

10. Slovenia, the last transit hub
ROG Autonomous Social Center –Anti-racist front without borders Central node for migrant organizing Second home: self- organized migrants place

11. Which factors account for the civic response?
Emotions
Space
Resources

12. 1) Emotional component
Background as refugees or personal experience of displacement
Identification with the migrants
collective memory of forced displacement
attribution of similarity that creates emotional linkages
assignment of a common meaning

13. 2) Space
WB as countries of transit rather than countries of destination
Position along the migrant route favoured the perception of a temporary migration -> migrants did not constitute a threat
Migration framed as humanitarian rather than economic

14. 3) Resources
Activating existing networks -> re- activating networks at the community level
Social media platforms -> facilitated the creation of coalitions in absence of direct relational ties

15. Conclusions CS response vs. state response New subjects
Shifting focus of the existing ones
Cross-national coalitions
Online networking

16. Temporary nature of refugees’ presence (and passage)
targeted actions
no long-term strategies
loose and ephemeral networks

17. Thanks for your attention!