Nudging forward: a novel strategy of shifting responsibility for beneficiaries of international protection

Since 2020, tens of thousands of beneficiaries of international protection (BIPs) have used the refugee passports issued to them by the Greek authorities to travel to other European Union and Schengen countries, where they apply anew for asylum. Our qualitative analysis of data from various sources shows that these secondary movements are prompted by ‘nudging forward’: a novel responsibility-shifting strategy put forward by the Greek government. We argue that this strategy is based on a selective mix of targeted governmental action and inaction, which facilitates BIPs’ onward mobility and simultaneously obstructs BIPs settlement in Greece or return thereto.