Imaginaries of ‘Refugee journeys’ into Europe and practices of inhospitality pending return

Abstract

Employing journey as a critical lens of inquiry, this article interweaves theoretical analysis of anti-migrant narratives with empirical observation to examine hostile policies towards forced migratory journeys into Europe and the UK as an enactment of fear-based imaginaries of the ‘refugee journey’. The paper develops the concept of inhospitality pending return, with focus on practices of inhospitality in places traditionally associated with leisure and tourism, such as ferries. The authors argue that this kind of inhospitality is shaped by a context of hostile European approaches to journeys of forced migration; these are informed by, and in turn reinforce, fear-based imaginaries.