Expulsions: The Construction of a Hostile Environment in Calais

Abstract

Abstract After the dismantling of “the great Jungle” of Calais, migrants have returned to settle in the territory of the region. In this article I analyse how different instances of the government have developed policies to expel them from the region. We will focus on how security and humanitarian techniques have been used to create an area (a hostile environment) where the physical and social life of migrants in transit is not sustainable. In particular, it will analyse the closing of service areas to freight trucks, the prohibition of food distribution to migrants in Calais, and the use of physical and symbolic violence against volunteers and migrants. The article is based on an analysis of forms of government through the concept of Milieu (Foucault, 2009) and proposes the concept of Hostile Environment as the materialization of the “Politics of Exhaustion” (De Vries & Guild, 2018).