Navigating Borderspaces

Grounded in the literature on critical humanitarian and border studies, this research examined the relationship between criminalization and the positionality of non-governmental search and rescue organizations in the context of the European Union’s and, specifically, Italy’s migration governance. It interrogated whether criminalization fosters heightened antagonism towards states and politicizes the civil fleet or if, on the contrary, it leads to an increased humanitarian focus, incorporating SAR NGOs further into the depoliticized EUropean border regime. It conceptualized criminalization and traced its evolution from the early 2000s until 2023. A qualitative content analysis of SAR NGO’s public communication around key moments in criminalization policy shifts was conducted. Two NGOs representing opposite sides of the spectrum between 'political' and 'humanitarian' positionalities were analyzed, enriched by interviews with SAR community members. The findings indicate that criminalization leads to politicization and increased antagonism towards states for both NGOs scrutinized. However, positionality shifts are, to varying degrees, influenced by alternative explanatory factors, particularly path dependency. Overall, the study provided crucial insights into NGO-state relations, shedding light on maritime humanitarian action in the Central Mediterranean and opening new perspectives on European migration governance and humanitarian action in solidarity with people on the move.