Table Of ContentMigration,
Diasporas and
Citizenship
RETHINKING INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION
The Sovereign, the State, the Refugee
Raffaela Puggioni
Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship
Series Editors
Robin Cohen
Department of International Development
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom
Zig Layton-Henry
Department of Politics and International Studies
University of Warwick
Kenilworth, United Kingdom
Editorial Board: Rainer Baubock, European University Institute, Italy;
James F. Hollifield, Southern Methodist University, USA; Daniele Joly,
University of Warwick, UK; Jan Rath, University of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands.
The Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship series covers three impor-
tant aspects of the migration process: firstly, the determinants, dynamics
and characteristics of international migration. Secondly, the continuing
attachment of many contemporary migrants to their places of origin,
signified by the word ‘diaspora’, and thirdly the attempt, by contrast,
to belong and gain acceptance in places of settlement, signified by the
word ‘citizenship’. The series publishes work that shows engagement
with and a lively appreciation of the wider social and political issues that
are influenced by international migration. This series develops from our
Migraton, Minorities and Citizenship series, which published leading
figures in the field including Steven Vertovec, Daniele Joly, Adrian Favell,
John Rex, Ewa Morawska and Jan Rath.
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14044
Raffaela Puggioni
Rethinking
International
Protection
The Sovereign, the State, the Refugee
Raffaela Puggioni
ADA University
Baku, Azerbaijan
Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship
ISBN 978-1-137-48309-6 ISBN 978-1-137-48310-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-48310-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016961286
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A mio padre,
per esserci sempre stato
Acknowledgement
Through the years, I have been postponing the writing of this book as
if something was missing, as if more material was needed, more stories
collected and more organizations contacted. It took me time to realize
that a book is always an unfinished project, a project that represents, so
to speak, a new beginning of new thoughts, perspectives, encounters and
rethinking. The following pages have been precisely conceived following
this rationale: a new beginning for rethinking international protection,
which will lead to new adjustments, challenges and re-conceptualisation.
Many are the people from whom this book has benefitted. Special
thanks go to the many refugees from Turkey, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan
and Somalia who made themselves available, opened their heart and
revealed their drama, hope and aspirations. Without their stories, I
would not have dedicated so much time in trying to understand what
happens on the ground. Special thanks go to the many organizations and
institutions working in Rome, including UNHCR, Centro Astalli, USI,
ASGI, Commissione Centrale, Servizio Centrale, Ararat, IX Municipio,
Dipartimento per le Libertà civili e l’Immigrazione, Cittadini del Mondo
and Action. Acknowledgement is also due to the many who have not
helped in answering my questions, but their silence has encouraged me to
keep searching for answers and for questioning those answers whenever I
found them unsatisfactory.
vii
viii Acknowledgement
In the academia, special thanks go to two institutions: the University
of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) and ADA University in Baku,
Azerbaijan. While this project was originally elaborated during my work
in Ningbo, where it was not particularly well-received, it was at ADA
that I found a friendly and stimulating environment to start writing.
Two very good colleagues, and friends, from the UNNC deserve men-
tion: Catherine Goetze and Maria Julia Trombetta who have read and
commented on some parts of the earlier draft. At ADA, special thanks
to Peter Turner, for checking my English, to Lala Jumayeva for a great
encouragement and friendship and to Javid Gadirov for an inspiring con-
versation on the liberal state and the question of protection.
Parts of Chap. 3 on camps and bare life were published as ‘Against
Camps’ Violence: Some Voices on Italian Holding Centres’, Political
Studies, 2014, 62 (4). Parts of Chap. 4 on asylum in Italy were pub-
lished in two articles: as ‘Refugees, Self-Help Strategies, and Institutional
Invisibility: Evaluating Kurdish Experience in Rome’, Journal of Refugee
Studies, 2005, 18 (3), and as ‘Refugees reception and the construction of
identities: Encountering Kurdish refugees in Italy, Borderlands E-Journal,
5(1). I acknowledge with thanks the permission to republish.
Finally, special thanks go to my parents, for their countless encourage-
ment to fight for my ideas even if they do not conform to the dominant
ones, as well as for inspiring me to explore new countries with an open
heart.
Contents
1 Introduction: Rethinking Protection 1
Rethinking Protection 4
From Sovereignty to Statehood 10
The State of Protection 16
The Sovereign of (Non-)protection 19
The Refugee of Protection 22
The Mediterranean ‘Crisis’ 25
Protection in Italy 28
Chapter Overviews 29
References 31
2 The Sovereign of (Non)protection 39
Sovereignty and the Question of Protection 43
Protection-Obedience Axiom 48
The International System of (Non)protection: An Overview 52
Protection in IR 58
Refugees in IR 62
Beyond Sovereign Identity 65
Concluding Remarks 70
References 71
ix
x Contents
3 The State of Protection 79
Theories of the State: An Overview 82
The State and the Question of Security 86
The State and the Question of Protection 92
Protection as Legal Protection 97
The UNHCR and the Question of Protection 103
Concluding Remarks 110
References 111
4 The Refugee of Protection 119
Public Life and the Space(s) of Politics 122
Enacting Citizenship 126
Camps and Bare Life 129
Resisting the Impossible? 134
Dissent and Coping Strategies 137
Testimony as an Act of Resistance 140
(Forced) Migrants as Subjects of Rights 144
Concluding Remarks 150
References 150
5 Refugees’ Encampment in Italy 159
Asylum in the 1990s: A Historical Overview 162
The 1990s: Asylum and the Meaning of Reception 167
1997 : Kurds and Non-protection 169
2001 : Reception Possibilities in Rome 171
2002 : The New Asylum System 179
2011 : Arab Spring and Temporary Protection 186
2013 : Some Voices from the Camp of Salaam Palace 188
2015 : Hotspots and New Encampments 195
Concluding Remarks 200
References 201
