Multi-level governance and sanctuary cities: the case of Liege (Belgium) and undocumented migrants

Debates about migration issues are spread across various levels of contemporary Belgian society, where a process of policy restriction is in place, as well as federal discourse aimed at discouraging arrivals. This climate affects not only newcomers, but also those who have been residing in the country for years without managing to regularize their residence status. Within this global framework, local initiatives have developed to support migrants and their needs, as well as to propose broader political claims. In this article, I will discuss these issues by analyzing the case study of a group of undocumented migrants that occupied uninhabited buildings in Liège—with the help of a network of mobilized citizens and associations that are active in the territory— in order to launch a claims process for regularization. The local government of the city tolerates and supports the initiatives of the group to a certain extent, thus making Liège a “sanctuary city”, i.e. both a secure space for migrants and a setting for resistance. Such a socio-political space takes shape within a context of multi-level governance targeting migration issues (reception and integration), which is characterized by gaps in policy implementation and subsidiarity. Within this setting, undocumented migrants exert their agency and claim human and civil rights through a series of concrete mobilization actions. The aim of this article is to show how local action affects the process of migration governance in Belgium.