Design between Dignity and Identity: Burning Borders for New Routes of Migration

Nowadays, we notice that there is a correlation between the concepts of crisis and migration; the main problem is clearly the number of people risking or losing their lives through irregular routes because of the absence of alternatives. There is also a growing discrepancy between restrictive migration policies and the real demand for cheap migrant labor in Europe, as neither European nor African states have a much genuine interest in stopping migration because the economies of receiving and sending countries have become increasingly dependent on migrant labor and remittances, respectively (De Haas, 2008). Nevertheless, all the experts speak about the need to open new migratory channels to combat irregular migration and trafficking, in order to match the real demand for labor, and limit the effects of the large informal economies in Europe and the Maghreb. Europe’s migration crisis has exposed shortcomings in the Union’s asylum system. In western countries, political asylum is mainly a tool for humanitarian protection, but it also helps manage migratory flows. Accordingly, the same person could be viewed as a refugee in a country and as an economic migrant in another. The sole difference is that to refer to an individual as a migrant is to hold them in a state of transit. Some claim that the distinctions that are made between refugees and economic migrants are irrelevant since they do not take into account the stories of these individuals (Colombo, 2015). In contrast, digital culture has no consideration for boundaries and has allowed more people to acquire the information they need to access the global labor market. In our globalized and fluid society, social inclusion and migration have become indivisible. It is true that one can talk about social inclusion from several perspectives and not necessarily from the one of migration, but a fair social inclusion would enable people to move without recourse to irregular migration routes. On a broader perspective, social design could be the field of design supporting the aspirations of highly vulnerable population groups and the injustices they are subjected to: refugees and migrants are among these groups facing issues related to various segregations; work, education, healthcare,etc. During the last decade, design has increasingly been viewed as a problem-solving approach, which makes it central to innovation in general. This is also the case when dealing with wicked social problems. Terms like design thinking, human-centered design (HCD) and design for public policy are more and more used, especially when we talk about collaborative and inclusive approaches towards complex social issues. In fact, we have witnessed the emergence of several new fields of design linked to this social character with a particular enthusiasm for social innovation. Manzini (2015) insists on recognizing design as strategic in playing an essential role in triggering, supporting and scaling-up social innovation. What contribution can design make in this specific field? What is the designers’ position concerning complex social problems that are often directly linked to a highly politicized issue like the one of migration? In this research Makers Unite was our primary case study. The project was initiated by "The Beach", a social design studio working principally with disadvantaged communities in Amsterdam. They promote Sustainsist Design, as the new playing field for designers. Thus, they developed an extensive knowledge on co-design based on "connectedness, localism, sharing, and proportionality" (Krabbendam and Schwarz, 2013). Through its story-sharing space, Makers Unite seeks to tackle both the social and environmental issues of the refugee crisis meeting the definition on Sustainist Design as a link between social and ecological sustainability. The project brings together both "newcomers" and local residents in co-designing enticing products and narratives, beginning with up-cycling life vests and boats accumulated on Greek island shores used as entry points to Europe and causing environmental problems. This would enable refugees to take their first steps in regaining their dignity, as it facilitates the identification of the abilities of newcomers and connects their skills with local experts in their respective fields. The Dutch context granted an idea, though a generic one, about the situation of migrants in a country of northern Europe to be compared to that of Italy as a perfect sample of the countries of southern Europe. In Parallel, a non-exhaustive outside-in research was also conducted through a series of spontaneous interviews with migrants, but also social workers in the asylum field. We attempted a kind of immersion to understand in a tangible way the issues that migrants face on a daily basis. The people we had the opportunity to meet were all different and each one had their own story. There was a wide range of profiles with different nationalities (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, Senegal, Guinea etc.) backgrounds and levels of education. As explained, globalization has made mobility a necessity for both host and home countries, and now the Internet has facilitated this mobility, through platforms and applications of job matching for instance. But it remains very limited, sometimes even abstract, and the populations who need it most, alas, do not have access to it. Internet has also facilitated mobility for workers of a new kind; "digital nomads" that work remotely and do not need a fixed location. There are also storytelling platforms where "influencers" create content, stories with value that people read, like and share. Because each individual has his own story and each story deserves to be listened to and valued, how could these three types of services be linked? How can someone give value to their own story and skills? Does he/she necessarily have the skills to create content and share it? Does valuing the stories and skills of individuals prevent them from embarking on a perilous journey to provide a way out by finding work abroad?