Irregular Migration And Human Rights

This collection of essays is the outcome of an international conference on Irregular Migration and Human Rights, which gathered together prominent scholars, policy-makers and practitioners working in the migration and human rights field. The objective of the book, in contrast to the prevailing political approach which focuses almost solely on prevention, is to discuss the human rights dimensions of irregular migration from theoretical, European and international perspectives.

Human rights seemingly offer universal protection. However, irregular migrants have, at best, only problematic access to human rights. Whether understood as an ethical injunction or legally codified norm, the promised protection of human rights seems to break down when it comes to the lived experience of irregular migrants. This book therefore asks three key questions of great practical and theoretical importance. First, what do we mean when we speak of human rights? Second, is the problematic access of irregular migrants to human rights protection an issue of implementation, or is it due to the inherent characteristics of the concept of human rights? Third, should we look beyond human rights for an effective source of protection? Written is an accessible style, with a range of socio-legal and doctrinal approaches, the chapters focus on the situation of the irregular migrant in Europe and the United States. Throughout the book, nuanced theoretical debates are put in the context of concrete case studies. The critical reflections it offers on the limitations and possibilities of human rights protections for irregular migrants will be invaluable for students, scholars and practitioners.

In our globalised world, where inequality is deepening and migration movements are increasing, states continue to maintain strong regulatory control over immigration, health and social policies. Arguments based on state sovereignty can be employed to differentiate irregular migrants from other groups and reduce their right to physical and mental health to the provision of emergency medical care, even where resources are available. Drawing on the enabling and constraining factors of human rights law and public health, this book explores the scope and limits of the right to health of migrants in irregular situations, in international and European human rights law. Addressing these peoples' health solely with an exceptional medical paradigm is inconsistent with the special attention granted to people in vulnerable situations and non-discrimination in human rights, the emerging rights-based approach to disability, the social priorities of public health and the interdependence of human rights.

Includes statistics.

This book explores the developing relationship between statelessness and migration. Migration law is setting the new parameters for international protection. Irregular migration is producing new forms of statelessness. International conventions on statelessness, refugees and migrant workers and international human rights instruments do not provide effective protection for these contemporary groups of stateless persons. The case study of Burmese irregular migrant workers in Thailand demonstrate that women and children are among the most unprotected because of the gendered construction of statelessness. The book concludes firstly that the 1999 CEDAW Protocol is an avenue through which stateless women may pursue redress. Secondly, it argues that it is imperative to set international law limits on state powers over immigration matters.

This publication aims to fill a significant knowledge gap on the human rights of irregular migrants. It seeks to describe barriers faced by irregular migrants in the exercise of such fundamental rights as the right to health, to education, to an adequate standard of living, to social security, and to just and favourable conditions of work, as well as trends and national policies, highlighting where possible examples of promising practice from around the world. It also draws attention to the guidance provided by international human rights law as well as related legal frameworks such as international labour law, and provides key messages on a human rights-based response to irregular migration.

Across East Asia, intra-regional migration is more prevalent than inter-regional movements, and the region’s diverse histories, geopolitics, economic development, ethnic communities, and natural environments make it an excellent case study for examining the relationship between irregular migration and human security. Irregular migration can be broadly defined as people’s mobility that is unauthorised or forced, and this book expands on the existing migration-security nexus by moving away from the traditional state security lens, and instead, shifting the focus to human security. With in-depth empirical country case studies from the region, including China, Japan, North Korea, the Philippines, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore, the contributors to this book develop a human security approach to the study of irregular migration. In cases of irregular migration, such as undocumented labour migrants, asylum seekers, internally displaced people, trafficked persons, and smuggled people, human security is the cause and/or effect of migration in both sending and receiving countries. By adopting a human security lens, the chapters provide striking insights into the motivations, vulnerabilities and insecurities of migrants; the risks, dangers and illegality they are exposed to during their journeys; as well as the potential or imagined threats they pose to the new host countries. This multidisciplinary book is based on extensive fieldwork and interviews with migrants, aid workers, NGO activists and immigration officers. As such, it will appeal to students and scholars of Asian politics and security, as well as those with interests in international relations, social policy, law, geography and migration.

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