236 Int. J. Migration and Border Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2018 Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Policing the mobility society: the effects of EU anti-migrant smuggling policies on humanitarianism Sergio Carrera* CEPS, Place du Congrés 1, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium Email: sergio.carrera@ceps.eu *Corresponding author Jennifer Allsopp Migration Leadership Team, London International Development Centre, 36 Gordon Square, Camden Town, London WC1H 0PD, UK Email: jenny.allsopp@gtc.ox.ac.uk Lina Vosyliūtė CEPS, Place du Congrés 1, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium Email: lina.vosyliute@ceps.eu Abstract: This article examines the ways in which EU’s political priority to counter migrant smuggling affect the provision of humanitarian assistance and access to rights to irregular immigrants and asylum seekers. It explores the effects of EU policies, laws and agencies’ operations in anti-migrant smuggling actions, and their implementation in two EU member states – Italy and Greece in the context of the ‘European refugee humanitarian crisis’ during 2015–2017. It shows that the effects of EU and national policies criminalising the facilitation of entry and residence of irregular immigrants extend beyond cases where civil society actors have faced actual prosecutions and criminal convictions when assisting irregular immigrants and asylum seekers. We use the notion ‘policing the mobility society’ to capture wider punitive dynamics which affect the activities of civil society actors, especially those critically monitoring and politically mobilising for the rights of migrants. Keywords: migration; borders; migrant smuggling; humanitarian assistance; search and rescue; SAR; civil society; EU; cross-border mobility; refugee crisis; human rights; criminalisation. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Carrera, S., Allsopp, J. and Vosyliūtė, L. (2018) ‘Policing the mobility society: the effects of EU anti-migrant smuggling policies on humanitarianism’, Int. J. Migration and Border Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp.236–276. Biographical notes: Sergio Carrera is Senior Research Fellow and Head of Rights and Security Program at CEPS. He is a part time Professor at the Migration Policy Centre (MPC) European University Institute in Florence. He is a Visiting Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA),