Asylum seekers and refugees’ lived experiences of borders and (im)mobility. The Case of Luxembourg

The mobility of people influences the (re)creation of borders through bordering practices. Conversely, borders and bordering practices affect the management of mobility and thus peoples’ migratory trajectories. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with refugees conducted for the H2020 project CEASEVAL, this paper explores the ways in which borders at various levels (spatial, legal, economic and social) influence migrants’ mobility before, during and after arrival in Luxembourg. As such, by focusing on the interrelations between border studies and mobility studies, it brings together two fields which have rarely been studied together, particularly when focused on refugees. This is of particular interest both empirically (given the multiple flows of people arriving in Luxembourg) and conceptually (as bordering practices relate to both practices of mobility and border making, as well as border crossing, from an institutional and experiential perspective). With 2,322 asylum applications in 2017, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is home to one asylum application per 254 people. This is far more that the EU-28 average, which is one application for every 787 people. Despite this, academic research depicting the everyday experiences of refugees in Luxembourg is lacking. This paper will first provide an overview of the Luxembourgish context with regards to asylum seekers and refugees. It will then analyse how bordering practices are experienced when carried out by traditional actors such as border agents. Lastly, it will shed light on the participants’ everyday experiences of borders by (non) traditional actors, such as ‘citizens’ and housing/labour market agents. It seeks to explore the ways in which the Luxembourgish politics of belonging influence the respondents’ feelings of belonging, which can further affect their (im)mobilities