ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the entrapment of migrating populations in structuralised waiting in the Serbian section of the Balkan route in the post-liminal phase, namely closure of the borders in South-eastern Europe. Using the case study of temporary reception and transit centres, as well as unofficial settlements in Serbia, I conceptualise waiting as a method of control over migrants' time in which people are deprived of state protection, the right to self-determination, and dignity. I argue that waiting involves disciplinary politics and power relations. Furthermore, I show that the psychological strain of entrapment between borders can cause disorientation and undermines self-confidence and motivation, which makes it harder to envisage a happy end to the journey and thus discourages migrants from attempting to cross the border. I show how the unbearable conditions of waiting and the lack of effective methods to resettle migrants in the EU countries pushed them to extreme solutions.
