Disputed (Non-)Belonging: Migrant Agency in the European Displacement Crisis 1945–56

This article revisits the handling of ‘Displaced Persons’ in the aftermath of the Second World War by institutions like the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, the International Refugee Organization, and local authorities in Western Germany. Based on a case study, we focus on the categorization of marginal groups within the DP population, namely the production of ‘the Muslim element’ as a cipher for forced migrants read as non-White and non-European. The empirical framework is used to discuss how these forced migrants could exercise and develop agency when negotiating their paths through migration regimes and their changing legal status while trying to influence their options regarding where they could go to rebuild their lives. Our analysis connects historical research to contemporary theoretical frameworks on migrant agency, arguing that categorizations that marginalized certain groups of DPs simultaneously created opportunities for them to reclaim agency, even altering institutional practices at various levels.