With Stephanie Garaglia, PhD student at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Online | 3:30-5:00 PM (CET) | Registration form will be available in due course.

This paper examines Tunisia’s border control efforts, and its expanding use of surveillance technologies, within the broader context of European Union externalisation policies and their implications for migration governance. Drawing on decolonial epistemologies, the paper interrogates how power, knowledge production, and technological practices intersect to shape whose mobility is monitored, restricted, and rendered visible or invisible. Rather than treating surveillance technologies and border control trainings as neutral tools, the analysis situates them within historical continuities of colonial control, geopolitical asymmetries, and unequal partnerships between the EU and Tunisia. Attention is given to the perspectives and lived experiences of those most affected by these systems. The paper reflects on positionality and the ethical challenges of researching surveillance in postcolonial contexts, arguing for more reflexive, situated, and relational approaches. By centring Tunisian experiences and critiques, the paper contributes to ongoing conversations on how migration and technology can be understood otherwise. It ultimately argues that decolonial approaches offer crucial tools for rethinking dominant narratives about innovation, security, and mobility.