Fingerprint Between Control and Resistance: Biometrics and the Autonomy of Migration in the European Union

Abstract

This article examines the role of fingerprints in the governance of migration in the European Union. Although it represents only a centimeter of skin that appears to be a universal part of the human body, the fingerprint (and fingerprinting) reveals much broader meanings in the context of migration. The author approaches the topic through the analytical framework of the Autonomy of Migration, highlighting the dual nature of this biometric technology: on the one hand, as a tool of control, and on the other as a means of its subversion. The article first analyses how fingerprinting is embedded in contemporary European migration policies, particularly within the Eurodac system and the Dublin Regulation. Through the theoretical lens of the autonomy of migration, the author demonstrates that migrants are not merely objects of governance but autonomous actors who, within the cracks of control regimes, create spaces of creativity, solidarity, and evasion. Concrete strategies of resistance related to fingerprinting are presented, including fingertip mutilation, the refusal of procedures, and the exploitation of legal loopholes. Drawing on theoretical analysis and empirical insights, the article reveals a relational dynamic between control and autonomy, in which these two processes continuously and mutually produce one another.