This article examines the boredom of asylum seekers living in a refugee camp in southern Europe. It concerns the understudied yet widespread phenomenon of boredom in the detention centers and other places where people wait several months/years to obtain permits to stay in a given state (EU) and cannot work. Boredom is defined as a socially constructed feeling that is an effect of the interaction between people and institutional/organizational ambiance that lacks qualities necessary to arouse engagement. We distinguished three modalities of the phenomenon: “doing nothing,” “life in limbo,” and “strategic boredom.” We claim that the last is the most powerful phenomenon. Strategic boredom is the specific tool of strict control exercised on the asylum seekers by the administration of the camp to force them to be idle and passive. On the other hand, the dominated group uses the expected mood of boredom as a strategy to obtain the favors of camp administration; this strategy—they hope—will conclude in the obtention of a permit of stay and/or the legal status of a refugee.

本文探讨了生活在南欧难民营中寻求庇护者的无聊情况。它涉及人们在拘留中心和其他地方等待数月/年以获得居住在特定州（EU）且无法工作的许可证的其他地方中被忽视但普遍存在的无聊现象。乏味被定义为一种社会建构的感觉，是人与机构/组织氛围之间相互作用的结果，缺乏引起参与的必要素质。我们区分了该现象的三种形式：“无所事事”，“无所事事的生活”和“战略性的无聊”。我们声称最后一个是最有力的现象。战略性的无聊是难民营管理部门严格控制寻求庇护者的特定工具，以迫使他们变​​得无所事事和被动。另一方面，占主导地位的群体将预期的无聊情绪作为获得营地管理青睐的策略；这种战略（他们的希望）将在获得居留许可和/或难民的法律地位后得出。