Prof. Dr. Holger Jahnke – Geography - University of Flensburg
Placing bordering practices – Local effects of European border policy on the island of
Lampedusa
Whereas borders between nation states within the European Union have almost disappeared in recent years,
the external borders of the territory have undergone a notable process of strengthening. The often cited
“fortress Europe” serves as a metaphor for the bordering practices at the borderline that separate the EUterritory from the outside world, and prevent migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from entering.
Presently however, bordering practices of the European Union have spatially been pushed beyond the
territorial limits of the European Union. In negotiation with the Libyan or Tunesian government and in
cooperation with officials of the respective countries border controls take place along the North African
coastline, or even within the Libyan territory. This strategy of “external flexibility” (P. Cuttita) is notably
affecting the migration flows actually arriving at the external European border.
In this presentation, I will focus on the Italian island of Lampedusa, which is located in the middle of the
Mediterranean, in a triangle between Sicily, Tunisia and Libya. For its geographic location Lampedusa has
become since the 1990s one of the most important entrance gates for many refugees and migrants from
African countries and even beyond. Whereas the island itself has only about 5000 inhabitants, only in 2008
around 30.000 refugees arrived by boat from Libya and Tunisia in the port of Lampedusa. As an effect
tourism flows to the island declined and the most important economic sector of the island was threatened.
In the following years, the old refugee camp at the Lampedusa airport was replaced by a well functioning
and modern reception center with a maximum capacity of up to 800 beds. The refugees could be kept in the
center for up to 72 hours on the island, before they were transported to other camps on the Italian mainland.
This way the actual bordering practices were spatially moved from Lampedusa to Sicily and other parts of
Italy and the entire phenomenon almost became invisible to inhabitants and tourists. Due to the necessary
supply of goods and services, the small economy of the island, which was until then mainly based on
tourism, has been supported by what could be called a “refugee economy” with a growing weight in the local
labour market, accommodation infrastructure and commerce.
In 2009 the Italian government decided to change the status of the center, whereby all migrants and asylum
seekers must remain in Lampedusa until a decision on their cases is taken. The resulting overflow of the
center provoked massive protests from the refugees but also from the inhabitants across all political parties,
trying to maintain the status quo. Whereas the government tried to put bordering practices back in its place,
the inhabitant of Lampedusa feared to become the “Alcatraz of the Mediterranean”.