Spontaneous volunteers step into the cracks of the system, pushing back against the rigid, control-driven approach that states and international organisations use to manage life seekers. Their work disrupts entrenched norms that see life seekers as burdens rather than human beings in need of care. Their presence alone exposes the failures of official humanitarian responses, which so often prioritise containment over compassion. This chapter dives into that tension, between the bureaucratic mechanisms of migration control and the raw, human response of those who refuse to look away. By foregrounding personal experiences, it highlights how spontaneous volunteers challenge the neoliberal orderNeoliberal order, which frames migration as a logistical issue to be ‘managed’ rather than a human crisis demanding empathy and action. But disruption comes at a cost. The chapter unpacks how states and international organisations respond to these volunteers, not with inclusion and support, but with marginalisationMarginalization and criminalisationCriminalisation. Why? Because their actions expose the system’s failures, making them a threat to the status quo. The desire for stability leads governments to sideline those who question or disrupt migration policies, particularly when it comes to movements from the Global South. Specific policies make this dynamic clear: carrier liability lawsCarrier liability laws, strict visa requirementsStrict visa requirements, all designed to restrict movement, making migration more dangerous and increasing the need for informal humanitarian responses. Spontaneous volunteers, by centring care and human rightsCare and human rights, offer a direct critique of these exclusionary systems, advocating for a humanitarianism rooted in solidarity rather than surveillance. Ultimately, the chapter argues that spontaneous volunteers do more than just fill gaps left by formal humanitarian efforts; they reveal fundamental flawsFundamental flaws in the system itself. Their work forces us to reconsider what humanitarianism should be, one that puts care and dignity at the forefront, rather than reinforcing a structure designed to control, exclude, and manage. Their actions point towards alternative possibilities, new ways of thinking about migrationMigration, assistanceAssistance, and responsibilityResponsibility, challenging the existing paradigm and opening the door for something different. Something better.