WEAPONIZED MIGRANTS AT THE PERIPHERIES: Promise and Peril on the ‘Eastern Borders Route’ to Europe

In 2021, Belarus facilitated the movement of thousands of undocumented migrants toward and across its borders with Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. The European Union (EU) and European governments decried this as the ‘weaponization’ of migrants - the callous victimization of vulnerable populations in the service of a hostile geopolitical act. Pushing back against this narrative, this chapter argues that such ‘weaponization’ is instead merely one of many ways in which human beings on the move experience domination. In addition, while the ‘weaponized’ migrants faced harsh conditions, some successfully crossed into Europe, thus illustrating how ‘weaponization’ at the peripheries can also represent opportunity.