Using fraternity and human dignity to counter the criminalization of solidarity in the European Union

Quenivet, Noelle; Dadomo, Christian; Tava, Francesco

Abstract

Over the past decades, a logic of border control and securitization, a combination of legal, political and social elements and factors, has developed in European States. The 2015 migration crisis has only exacerbated this negative approach towards migrants and logic of securitization. Volunteers have stepped in to support migrants and formed solidarity movements that defy the logic of the securitization approach and propose a different narrative to that of States. To counteract their actions and deter volunteers from helping, States have passed criminal laws and so created a chilling effect that discourages solidarity. Scholars and activists often refer to the “criminalization of solidarity” to indicate this phenomenon. Using the example of the prosecutions of individuals who have helped migrants at the French/Italian border, this article explains the legal framework relating to the criminalization of solidarity and highlights its effect on individuals and society at large. After ascertaining that a solution grounded in national law rather than EU law is more suited, the article offers suggestions to curtail laws that criminalize solidarity towards migrants and so, at the very least, limit the negative effects of such laws. The authors argue that the use of the constitutional principles of fraternité enshrined in French constitutional law and of human dignity found in many constitutions of EU Member States are practical and realistic solutions.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 2, 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 8, 2024
• Journal: Columbia Human Rights Law Review
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 56
• Keywords: solidarity; migration; human dignity; fraternity
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11884429
• Publisher URL: https://hrlr.law.columbia.edu/