From Refugee Support to Escape Aid - Refugee Protection as a Conflicting Issue in the German Migration Regime and the Role of Civil Society Initiatives

The research project From Refugee Support to Escape Aid reflects the problem of the so called asylum paradox and how civil society actors deal with its consequences. Many states grant refugee rights and Germany considers the right to claim asylum a fundamental right and enacts international law principles of refugee protection. However, to effectively claim those rights, refugees and asylum seekers are forced to cross borders illegally and to get into risky situations, because of the lack of legal entry options. Therefore, access to refugee protection has become a conflicting issue in Germany, especially since the situation has escalated in 2015/2016. The research project analyzes these conflicts with a focus on civil society initiatives that mobilize for the safe entry of refugees. Therefore, the project investigates strategies and action  approaches that civil society initiatives develop in the context of migration and asylum regimes to advocate for and to facilitate refugee protection – thereby giving escape aid – in the light of limited entry channels and humanitarian crises.

Publications and media reports

• Schwenken, Helen / Schwiertz, Helge (2020): Inclusive Solidarity and Citizenship along Migratory Routes in Europe and the Americas. Citizenship Studies 24 (4). (Special Issue).   www.tandfonline.com/toc/ccst20/24/4
• Schwiertz, Helge / Schwenken, Helen (2020): Introduction. Inclusive Solidarity and Citizenship along Migratory Routes in Europe and the Americas. Citizenship Studies 24 (4).   doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2020.1755155
• Schwiertz, Helge / Schwenken, Helen (2020): Mobilizing for safe passages and escape aid. Challenging the ‘asylum paradox’ between active and activist citizenship, humanitarianism and solidarity. Citizenship Studies 24 (4).   doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2020.1755174
• Schwiertz, Helge / Steinhilper, Elias (2020): Countering the Asylum Paradox through Strategic Humanitarianism. Evidence from Safe Passage Activism in Germany. Critical Sociology.   doi.org/10.1177/0896920520932215
• Pohlmann, Vanessa / Schwiertz, Helge (2020): Private sponsorship in refugee admission: Standard in Canada, trend in Germany? Research brief no. 2020/1. Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS) and the CERC in Migration and Integration, Ryerson University. (mit Vanessa Pohlmann)   www.ryerson.ca/centre-for-immigration-and-settlement/publications/research-briefs/
• Keß, Felix / Schwiertz, Helge  (2019):    Safe harbours: the cities defying the EU to welcome migrants. openDemocracy. 
• Keß, Felix / Schwiertz, Helge (2019): Zivilgesellschaftliche Initiativen für sichere Fluchtwege – ein Überblick. In: focus Migration. (mit Keß, Felix)   http://www.bpb.de/gesellschaft/migration/kurzdossiers/295985/zivilgesellschaftliche-initiativen-fuer-sichere-fluchtwege-ein-ueberblick
• Keß, Felix / Schwiertz, Helge (2019): Zivilgesellschaftliche Initiativen für sichere Fluchtwege, in:   Seenotrettung. Eine Broschüre vom Eine Welt Netz NRW.
• Pohlmann, Vanessa / Schwiertz, Helge (2019): Private Sponsorship in der Flüchtlingsaufnahme. Standard in Kanada, Trend in Deutschland?“ In: Fluchtforschungsblog.   https://blog.fluchtforschung.net/private-sponsorship-in-der-fluchtlingsaufnahme-standard-in-kanada-trend-in-deutschland/
• Schwiertz, Helge: Interview im Deutschlandfunk, 15.07.2019,   Alternative Fluchtwege: Mit dem Flieger nach Europa? (ab Minute 12:20)
• Schwiertz, Helge: Interviewauszüge in bento (Spiegel Online), 17.06.2020,   Fünf Jahre "Flüchtlingskrise": Gibt es eine Generation "Refugees Welcome"?