Coloniality In queer asylum: towards theorising ‘colonial surveillance’ and its resistances

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of ‘colonial surveillance’ as a tool for analysing contemporary regulatory practices within queer asylum. Based on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with queer refugees, immigration officers and support organisations in Berlin and Copenhagen, we argue that the surveillance and assessment processes of queer refugees are rooted in colonial logics. We contribute to the growing body of research on queer migration by theorising ‘colonial surveillance’ and examining its manifestations. First, we identify colonial surveillance within the archives of knowledge employed to assess queer refugees in the decision-making processes. Here, we argue that coloniality of knowledge is reflected in the assessment of queerness as well as in the documents used to evaluate queer refugees’ fear of persecution. Second, we discuss resistance strategies employed by queer refugees and support organisations against these colonial forms of surveillance, uncovering the complex position of these organisations that both perpetuate and resist surveillance. Through the lens of ‘colonial surveillance’, we aim to illuminate the intersection of queer asylum and continued colonial logics within the asylum regime in Berlin and Copenhagen.