Abandoned Refugee Vehicles “In the Middle of Nowhere”

• Published in: Journal of Contemporary Archaeology
• Main Authors: Seitsonen, Oula Ilari, Herva, Vesa-Pekka, Kunnari, Mika
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Equinox Publishing 2017
• Subjects: Arctic; Lapland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/jca.31697; https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JCA/article/download/10473/12503

Vehicles abandoned by multinational refugees during the winter 2015–2016 in northern Finnish Lapland’s border checkpoints represent an offshoot of the ongoing global refugee crisis on the so-called “Arctic Route” to Europe via Russia. In the summer 2016 this material reminder of refugee mobility vanished almost totally, as the vehicles were auctioned in a show for promoting Lapland tourism. This photo-essay highlights and discusses some of the manifold aspects connected to this flow of refugees, including, for instance, the ethical concerns of trivializing refugee issues intertwined with a host of global larger-scale matters, or using their material heritage for stimulating recreational mobility in these marginalized northern regions.