Belgrade’s ‘Campscape’: Refugee Camp Geographies and Beyond

Keywords: Balkan Route, Camps, Refugees, Campscape
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 67

Abstract

Since the closing of the informal refugee corridor along the Balkan Route in 2016, Belgrade, Serbia has remained a hub for refugees, smugglers and humanitarian organisations. Using the concept of the ‘campscape’ (Martin, 2015), we aim to illustrate how the various geographies in and around Belgrade have begun to blend between the city and the nearby refugee camps – and even further to Serbia’s northern borders with Hungary and Romania. We argue that rather than choosing one camp as the centre point of the campscape the archipelago and clusters of camps that exist within Serbia, paired with makeshift camps, various precarious forms of accommodation, and spaces of refugee support, form one immense interconnected campscape. A campscape that is full of “blurred boundaries” (Martin, 2015, p. 10) and a constant clash between immobility and mobility among spaces of accommodation and support. Refugee lives are therefore lived within and between these spaces, in their journey to Western Europe via ‘The Game’. This paper will focus on the context of camps within Belgrade, along with their ambiguities and politics in relation to the city and its unique refugee geographies. Additionally, this paper will aim to highlight how these spaces are strategically used (or not used) by refugees to support their northward journey. Ultimately, whether a migrant will stay in Serbia for one month or one year it is probable that the campscape, which has been continuously developing in Belgrade since 2015, will support those individuals in one way or another.