Civil society organizations and individual volunteers were in many instances the first responders to the so-called ‘European humanitarian refugee crisis’. From 2015 onwards, they were celebrated by some as heroes. Meanwhile, during this same period, national and EU law enforcement agencies served to relabel civil society actors across a range of contexts as potential ‘migrant smugglers’–direct facilitators of conduits of irregular migrant flows, or a pull-factor by default through their services. The shift in rhetoric was met with a shift in policing practices: in Italy and Greece, among other EU member states, humanitarian acts were reframed from life-saving obligations to be met and commended, to administrative–and in some cases—criminal risks to be monitored, deterred and punished. This article builds on previous research to consider how since 2018, civil society actors in Italy and Greece have faced increasing demands and pressures for registration, coordination and financial transparency, and how these have profound repercussions on humanitarian and human rights work with, for and by refugees and other migrants. The article outlines four main opportunity costs of the policing of humanitarian actors as a strategy to prevent mobility of refugees and other migrants. Firstly, such measures pose a threat to civil society’s independence and impartiality from government interference; in doing so, they impact the efficiency of operations and disincentivize certain humanitarian actors from conducting life-saving work. Secondly, they have repercussions on trust between the law enforcement and civil society which may lessen the chances of migrants and those that serve them from sharing crucial information to stop and investigate ongoing violent crimes. Thirdly, this strategy leads to the politicization of the criminal justice system which undermines public faith in liberal democracy. Finally, resources channelled into investigating civil society actors funnel away resources from the focus on high-profile criminality. Given the pervasive human rights abuses committed against irregular migrants and asylum seekers, we argue that this misdirected policy equates to picking ‘low-hanging fruit’ while the orchard burns.

中文翻译：

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在果园燃烧时采摘“唾手可得的果实”：意大利和希腊的人道主义行动者的警务成本作为防止移民走私的策略

在许多情况下，民间社会组织和个人志愿者是所谓的“欧洲人道主义难民危机”的第一响应者。从2015年开始，他们被一些人誉为英雄。与此同时，在同一时期，国家和欧盟执法机构在一系列背景下将民间社会行为者重新标记为潜在的“移民走私者”——非正常移民流动渠道的直接促进者，或者通过他们的服务默认的拉动因素. 言辞的转变伴随着警务实践的转变：在意大利和希腊，以及其他欧盟成员国，人道主义行为被重新定义，从需要履行和赞扬的拯救生命的义务转变为行政——在某些情况下——刑事风险受到监视、威慑和惩罚。本文以之前的研究为基础，探讨自 2018 年以来，意大利和希腊的民间社会行为体如何面临着日益增加的注册、协调和财务透明度的需求和压力，以及这些对人道主义和人权工作的深远影响难民和其他移民。本文概述了人道主义行动者维持治安作为防止难民和其他移民流动的战略的四个主要机会成本。首先，此类措施对公民社会的独立性和公正性构成威胁，不受政府干预；这样做会影响行动效率，并阻碍某些人道主义行为者开展挽救生命的工作。第二，它们对执法部门和民间社会之间的信任产生影响，这可能会减少移民和为他们服务的人分享重要信息以阻止和调查正在进行的暴力犯罪的机会。第三，这一策略导致刑事司法系统政治化，这削弱了公众对自由民主的信心。最后，用于调查民间社会行为者的资源将资源从对高调犯罪的关注中转移出去。鉴于针对非正常移民和寻求庇护者的普遍侵犯人权行为，我们认为这种误导的政策等同于在果园燃烧时采摘“唾手可得的果实”。这一战略导致刑事司法系统政治化，破坏了公众对自由民主的信心。最后，用于调查民间社会行为者的资源会从重点关注高调犯罪活动中转移资源。鉴于针对非正规移民和寻求庇护者的普遍侵犯人权行为，我们认为这种误导的政策等同于在果园燃烧时采摘“唾手可得的果实”。这一战略导致刑事司法系统政治化，破坏了公众对自由民主的信心。最后，用于调查民间社会行为者的资源将资源从对高调犯罪的关注中转移出去。鉴于针对非正常移民和寻求庇护者的普遍侵犯人权行为，我们认为这种误导的政策等同于在果园燃烧时采摘“唾手可得的果实”。