ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the time dimension of the themes of migration, mobility, and borders, highlighting how the European border regime particularly affects the temporality of migrants’ lives. Extended ethnographic data are used in order to give insights on the everyday lives of refugees in both Italy and Germany. Drawing on the everyday lives of refugees in the reception system in Milan and during the Oranienplatz political protest in Berlin, this chapter give insights on how the intertwining of security and humanitarian devices has led to the production of a multi-directional, fragmented, but constant mobility of refugees across Europe. The chapter draws attention to the particular temporality that emerged from this particular form of mobility. Indeed, despite refugees holding refugee status – albeit temporary – they live as ‘errant orphans’, still in search of a place with better life conditions in which to settle. Finally, the chapter draws attention to how the experiences of limbo, waiting, uncertainty, and precariousness usually related to first-arrival time in Europe are also extended into a long period after the obtaining of a residence permit. The responsibility of German and Italian authorities in the production of a high level of precariousness in refugees’ lives is also underscored.
