The politicization of migrants’ onward movements from Italy to France

Through migrants’ movements, specific locations become imaginarily linked as politicised symbols of a so-called migrant crisis, but also as sites of solidarity and resistance. This is true for Lampedusa, Italy and Briançon, France, border sites where both migrants and solidarity actors contest EU migration policies. Italy has implemented policies and practices that foster onward movements because it has neither the capacity nor the intention to settle all migrants who arrive. France has reacted to onward movements from Italy by reintroducing border controls. French political and media discourses blame Italy for ‘nudging’ these migrants into France. This article is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Briançon and Lampedusa. It focuses on the events of September 2023, when 11,000 migrants arrived in Lampedusa during one week, shortly after which Briançon saw a significant increase in arrivals. The depiction of crisis in these two linked sites illustrates EU, national and local implications of migrants’ onward movements.