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Cultural Profiling During Passport Control: Ugandan Migration Officers’ Informal Selection Practices

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Sowa, K. Cultural Profiling During Passport Control: Ugandan Migration Officers’ Informal Selection Practices. Sociologus, 70(1), 73-89. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.70.1.73
Sowa, Katrin "Cultural Profiling During Passport Control: Ugandan Migration Officers’ Informal Selection Practices" Sociologus 70.1, , 73-89. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.70.1.73
Sowa, Katrin: Cultural Profiling During Passport Control: Ugandan Migration Officers’ Informal Selection Practices, in: Sociologus, vol. 70, iss. 1, 73-89, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.70.1.73

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Cultural Profiling During Passport Control: Ugandan Migration Officers’ Informal Selection Practices

Sowa, Katrin

Sociologus, Vol. 70 (2020), Iss. 1 : pp. 73–89

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a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne, Universität zu Köln, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923 Köln, Germany

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Abstract

Abstract

Recently, northern Uganda has become a destination for inner-African immigration. As a result of new security policies, passport controls are intensifying at border posts and are being expanded across the country. During passport checks, officers often refer to natio­nal-cultural stereotypes in order to verify statements in identity documents. Stereotyping and profiling of ‘Somalian terrorists’ or ‘militant South Sudanese’ are used as pre-selection tools. At the same time, officers try to establish informal networks with immigrants as informants to make use of their cultural and linguistic expertise. The article is based on an ethnographic study of Ugandan police and immigration officers in 2014.

Keywords: Uganda, South-South migration, profiling, citizenship, passport

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Katrin Sowa: Cultural Profiling During Passport Control: Ugandan Migration Officers’ Informal Selection Practices 1
Abstract 1
1. Introduction 1
2. Passport Control as a Ritual of State Inclusion and Exclusion 2
3. Refugee Paradise or Security Threat? Immigration to Northern Uganda 4
4. Passport Control at Points of Entry 5
5. Passport Control After Entry 8
5.1 Hot Spots 9
5.2 Profiling 1
5.3 Networking 1
6. Conclusion 1
References 1