Solidarity in Europe: Literature Review on the Criminalization of Helping Undocumented People

The research field on the criminalization of helping undocumented people has developed significantly since 2015. Studies are carried out on a European scale in order to grasp the problematics specific to each country in a comparative manner, in relation to the current direction of migration policies. The perspectives have been diversified and researchers are mobilizing multidisciplinary methods, gradually moving away from looking solely at the legal dimension of the phenomenon, which was limited to recording legal proceedings for facilitation of unauthorized entry, transit, and residence. From illegal solidarity to policing humanitarianism, the terminological evolution of the research provides a framework for analysis that allows us to map the origins of the phenomenon, and the different approaches in the scientific literature. This literature review focuses on French, Italian and English publications to present the main resources that account for the processes of criminalization in Italy, France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. These processes involve both “humanitarian” aid and “activist” solidarity, as well as a range of repressive instruments mobilized by the public authorities to control those who help foreigners in an irregular situation on their territory.