A benevolência à prova dos imigrantes clandestinos: etnografia de um centro francês humanitário

Abstract

The Humanitarian movement increasingly assumes relevance in the current debates on human rights, international relations and globalization in the face of the growing wave of global immigration and reception of the countries of exile. This paper seeks to contribute to the reflection by presenting data from an ethnography held at a medical center of the French Non-Governmental Organization, Medécins du Monde, in Paris. The French representations on immigration and social exclusion influenced the interactions between volunteers and clandestine immigrant users of the center. The discussion concerns acceptance, expectations and judgments in the interactions, calling into question the ideal of benevolence advocated by the organization as a humanitarian assistance.