SINTHUJAN VARATHARAJAH /// The Refugee Camp: An Extraterritorial Space of Exclusion

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In this discussion, Sinthujan Varatharajah presents both his work as an organizer with the organization Flüchtlinge Willkommen (Refugees Welcome) in Berlin, as well as his research as a doctoral student about refugee camps in Germany. Beyond the description of the camps’ architecture, we discuss how the logic of humanitarianism in relation to the demagogic politics of European governments forms legally, spatially, and narratively these extraterritorial spaces of exclusion.

Sinthujan Varatharajah is a doctoral student in Political Geography at University College London. His analysis the spatial politics of asylum and refugee resistance to encampment in Germany. He holds a MSc. from the LSE in Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonialism and works as a project coordinator and community manager for Flüchtlinge Willkommen (Refugees Welcome) in Berlin. See his Funambulist contributor page.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE FUNAMBULIST MAGAZINE:
– “Guest Columns: The Keys to Return: Inheriting Losses and Narratives,” in The Funambulist 5 (May-Jun 2016) Design & Racism.
– “German Police: On Racial Profiling: Between Legal Actions and State Recognition,” in The Funambulist 8 (Nov-Dec 2016) Police.

WEBSITE:
– http://www.fluechtlinge-willkommen.de/en/

REFERENCE ARTICLES:
– “Welcome to Germany! Interview with Sinthujan Varatharajah,” on DW (02/16/16)
– Sinthujan Varatharajah, “They Aren’t Just ‘Migrants’,” They’re Refugees,” on Vice (05/10/2015)
– Sinthujan Varatharajah, “The Walls the West Won’t Tear Down,” on Jacobin (11/14/2014)