‘...there’s absolutely no humanity. This is purely political’ How Spontaneous Volunteers disrupt the ‘management’ of forced migration.

This thesis delves into the impact of spontaneous volunteerism on migration management politics in critical development studies. It examines how neoliberalism shapes migration policies and how spontaneous volunteers disrupt the ‘management’ of forced migrant. The study posits that spontaneous volunteers reveal states' and international organisations' failure to prevent human rights abuses. As a result, spontaneous volunteers face marginalisation and criminalisation by these actors. I employed a multimethod approach, combining interviews, focus groups, participatory observation, and auto-ethnography to explore spontaneous volunteers lived experiences. Findings suggest that humanitarian values are commodified within migration ‘management’, corrupting the essence of humanitarianism. This research underscores how spontaneous volunteers efforts challenge an illiberal system that marginalises forced migrants.