Presentation and Discussion

The militarised Border Regime and the Politics of Migration in the Mediterranean

Forensic Oceanography

Monday, July 6, 2015, 6 p.m.

with Charles Heller (Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths College / Watch the Med)

In english, with german translation

It seems impossible to draw stable boundaries in the ever changing waters of the sea, especially for those who are seeking to govern it: the sea are considered as a space of absolute freedom and flow.

In this workshop, Charles Heller will show how the seas are increasingly documented and divided. A complex sensing apparatus is fundamental to a form of governance that combines the division of maritime spaces and the control of movement. The EU-imposed migration regime has turned the sea into a deadly liquid.

However, by using the Mediterranean`s remote sensing apparatus against the grain of this border regime and spatialising violations of migrant`s rights at sea, it is possible to re-inscribe responsibility into a sea of impunity.

Charles Heller has co-founded the network Watch the Med (www.watchthemed.net)