ANT209H5 Chapter 4: Week 4-The social aesthetics of eligibility-NGO aid and indeterminacy in the Greek asylum process by Cabot
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Week 4-the social aesthetics of eligibility-ngo aid and indeterminacy in the greek asylum process by. Cabot the arc supports "vulnerable groups", including families with children, unaccompanied minors, "victims of trafficking", and victims of abuse or torture. Others, for whom assistance would mean recognition as victims of trafficking ortorture, may have cases that ngo workers find suspicious, risky, or dangerous, owing to the illegalities associated with their clai ms. Arc workers proceed under the assumption that applicants may not be able toproduce reliable docume nts or external evidence. Drawing on methodologies that couple advocacy work with ethnographicfieldwork, i served as a volunt eer in the arc legal service, observing andencountering directly the legal quandaries of aid applicants, lawyers" strategiesfor addressing these difficulties, and arc eligibility practices. An asylum adjudicator commented to me in the summer of 2011 that havinga lawyer does not always strengthen one"s case, since many will do anything formoney; yet, if an applicant is supported by an n.
