Racialised (im)mobilities: Producing West and Central African migrants' 'illegality' in Algeria

Through an ethnographic approach, this study examines the experiences of mobility and immobility of West and Central African migrants along their journey of irregular migration through Northern Africa towards Europe, specifically within the context of Algeria. Despite Algeria becoming a significant transit and immigration country for thousands of West and Central African migrants, there is scant research on the dynamics of irregular migration in the country. Thus, building on critical debates in anthropology, sociology, and human geography regarding the production of mobility, 'illegality', and racialization, the research unpacks the racialization and production of the illegality of West and Central African migrants' (im)mobilities. By interweaving these individuals' aspirations, hopes, and stories, this dissertation provides a comprehensive understanding of their mobility strategies and practices by placing them within the broader framework of local institutions and hierarchies, as well as the EU's externalized bordering processes.
The dissertation is organised across three stages of migrants' journeys: pre-departure, where I examine the motives, plans, and hopes that migrants create prior to emigration; the journey to Algeria, where I focus on how participants evaluate risks and prospects and inquire into the role of smugglers and facilitators; finally, the first part zooms in on arrival and emplacement in the city, the struggle for employment, safety from police raids, and forced return. In this chapter, I inquire into how participants also learn to navigate the city as racialized Others in the postcolonial city of Oran. Central to these analyses is the racialization process of West and Central African (im)mobilities and its fundamental role as a structuring force in shaping the migrants' experiences and lives.
Building on ethnographic material and 43 interviews with West and Central Africans in Algeria, I show how Algeria's migration policies actively create containment which, in turn, generates spatial and temporal dispersal of migrants. Moreover, through an examination of Algeria's migration governance policies, I argue that the country employs an opaque approach to containment, which leads to the spatial and temporal dispersal of migrants. Furthermore, this dissertation challenges the conventional portrayal of Algeria as a transit country by analysing the place-making practices they engage in across time and space. In addition, the dissertation explores the gendered experiences and migrants' intimacy within the community socio-economic organizations morphed in Algeria. Based on these practices, I argue that Algeria is becoming a de facto destination with good economic prospects for migrants.
Reflecting on these dynamics, the dissertation revisits the historical legacies embroiled with racialized bordering, (im)mobility, 'illegality', and race to examine the process of migrants' Othering in Algeria.