Stranded Between Borders - The Limitations of Categorizing People in Transit

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Most states distinguish between migrants seeking better economic opportunities and refugees fleeing political persecution. Officials, courts and different political representatives struggle to determine who is a "genuine" refugee. A closer look at the people stranded on the outer borders of Europe and the United States shows that many "economic migrants" are actually fleeing crime-ridden societies in failing states like Libya or Venezuela. Yet the history of the asylum system also illustrates the inability of many states to regulate immigration. In his new book Between Borders: The Great Jewish Migration from Eastern Europe Tobias Brinkmann (Penn State University) questions the distinction between migrants and refugees. The actual experiences of Jews on the move during the 20th century shows that many refugees also were also looking for better economic opportunities. For this event he will be joined by Jana Lipman (Tulane University), the author of the recent study In Camps: Vietnamese Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Repatriates which raises similar questions.

This virtual event is part of the research focus of the international standing working group “In Global Transit: Exploring Migrants’ Liminal Spaces and Phases” of the German Historical Institute Washington. Bringing together experts on migration and refugee studies from different disciplines and thematic areas, it opens an interdisciplinary conversation across contexts about the methods, potentials, and challenges of studying transit. Building on past conferences and workshops at the GHI since 2018, which have focused on the global trajectories of Jewish refugees fleeing from Nazi persecution, it also encourages dialogue between the rich research on refugees in transit and general research on flight and (forced) migration in the 20th and 21st centuries.