Rights Of Migrants Research Articles

Accelerated removals: the human cost of EU deportation policies

As European countries implement policies of ‘accelerated removal’, the legal rights of migrants and ‘failed’ asylum seekers are being eroded and force is being used more often in their deportations. Certain groups, including the Roma, unaccompanied children, the elderly and ill as well as asylum seekers from many African countries, are being targeted for removal as readmission agreements are negotiated, and many deportations now take place to Afghanistan and Iraq — regarded as safe countries.

Analysis of the Aliens and Nationality Law of the Republic of Liberia

Liberia’s immigration and nationality laws, which were modeled on the 1952 U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, have not been updated since 1974. Since that time, both Liberia’s political situation and international laws affecting the rights of migrants and foreign nationals have changed drastically. ABA ROLI’s analysis assessed the law, comparing it to regional and international norms and best practices. The analysis also includes a brief overview of pertinent standards and general policy considerations, highlights areas of concern and suggests reforms. It examines discrete sections of the law, drawing on commentary provided by a panel of experts on immigration, public international law and Liberia. The analysis recommends substantial reforms to the law, including full incorporation of Liberia’s international legal obligations in the domestic law, addressing the needs of trafficked and smuggled persons and ensuring the protection of immigrant children. Other recommendations include developing a regulatory framework for the implementation of immigration laws, establishing court oversight of immigration decisions, eliminating the use of outdated terminology, permitting dual citizenship and matrilineal passage of citizenship and ensuring the rights of residents of non-African descent. The analysis was undertaken by ABA ROLI at the request of the Liberian Ministry of Justice to assist the government in redrafting and modernizing Liberia’s immigration and nationality laws.

Is There Room for International Solidarity within South African Borders? COSATU's Responses to the Xenophobic Attacks of May 2008

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is an essential part of South African civil society, with the largest representation of organized workers and a history of struggle against apartheid in the workplace and the townships. The post-apartheid and globalization era pose organizational challenges for COSATU and its affiliates. Besides the necessity to organize vulnerable workers, it also has to address the question of xenophobia and issues pertaining to the rights of migrant workers. This article argues that some of COSATU's provincial structures, among other things, played an important role in providing humanitarian aid to victims of xenophobia in 2008, but COSATU as a federation did not have a co-ordinated approach during the xenophobic attacks. COSATU has still not developed a strategy for organizing migrants. But, on a positive note, the 2009 COSATU Congress resolution on xenophobia opens a space for developing a platform for protecting the rights of migrants.

The Ethics of Migrant Welfare

International migration poses a dilemma for capitalist welfare states. This paper considers the ethical dimensions of that dilemma. It begins by addressing two questions associated with the provision of social rights for migrants: first, the extent to which differential forms of social citizenship may be associated with processes of civic stratification; second, the ambiguous nature of the economic, social and cultural rights components of the international human rights framework. It then proceeds to discuss, on the one hand, existing attempts to classify or taxonomise different kinds of immigration/incorporation and welfare regime and, on the other, the different ways in which migrants may be socially constructed. Building on this analysis the paper develops an alternative taxonomy that is concerned with the different ethical premises from which the social rights of migrants may be constructed or justified. The paper concludes by applying the ideal of ‘Migration without Borders’ as a means to critique existing constructions of social rights.

Counter-Public Enclaves and Understanding the Function of Rhetoric in Social Movement Coalition-Building

Social movement scholarship has focused primarily on public rhetoric and single-issue movements. This focus has led to limited understanding of the function of “protected enclaves” within movement-building, at the same time that we know little about coalition-building. This article fills this gap in the literature by examining how activists in coalition interpret external rhetoric within protected enclaves. Using data collected during a field research project, this essay shows how rhetoric functions to facilitate coalition-building between a queer rights and a migrant rights organization by demonstrating how activists interpret rhetoric from 3 primary sources: media, legislation and policy, and law enforcement.

Philippine Migrant Workers' Transnationalism in the Middle East

AbstractHow do migrants assert their rights as workers when they do not enjoy the rights of citizenship in their countries of employment and are unable to assert their human rights through international conventions? This article focuses on the work of Migrante-International's Middle East chapter in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, it examines the ways Philippine migrants strategically assert their rights as Philippine citizens transnationally in local labor struggles. This case study of transnational labor activism in a region where migrant workers enjoy limited rights not only highlights how migrants exercise their agency in spite of major obstacles, but it also offers up novel ways to think about worker organizing within the context of contemporary neoliberal globalization for labor activists and scholars concerned with the labor rights of migrants.

Public interest litigation for refugees in South Africa and the potential for structural change

A decades-long social justice struggle that eventually displaced white minority rule in South Africa culminated in democratic elections in 1994. Following this historic transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, new issues came to the fore, including the rights of refugees and migrants. Civic actors in South Africa again became mobilised around this human rights and social justice issue through public interest litigation in the framework of South Africa’s bold, new Constitution. At different moments, civic actors confronted the government to fulfil its national and international obligations towards refugees. This article will briefly explain the emergence of new civic actors and issues in post-1994 democratic South Africa, and then elaborate three theoretical propositions on civic-state interactions to try and hold governments accountable to their human rights obligations. Next, these propositions will be applied to concrete examples where administrative law is tested in the domain of refugee law and policies. The article will conclude by briefly considering the extent to which public interest litigation in the area of refugee law and policies can inform the future prospects of public interest litigation in general.

Opening a Dialogue on Migrant (Rights) Activism

Opening a Dialogue on Migrant (Rights) Activism

Transnational Migration, Gender, and Rights: Advocacy and Activism in the Malaysian Context

AbstractThis paper explores the intersection between gender and migration through an analysis of the advocacy strategies undertaken by Malaysian non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) and trade unions on behalf of female transnational migrant workers. In particular, the paper looks at the different ways in which local NGOs and trade unions have engaged with the so‐called “rights‐based approach” to migration that has been emphasized by transnational NGOs and key intergovernmental organizations – in particular the International Labour Organization (ILO). The paper suggests that despite the widespread feminization of migration in the region, the rights‐based approach has tended to employ a gender‐blind perspective on migration. It is only in the arena of activism around the rights of migrant domestic workers (an overwhelmingly feminized sector) that gender issues are brought to the fore of the migrant rights debate. The appropriation of rights‐talk by activists organizing on behalf of migrant domestic workers does indicate that the language of human rights can be employed strategically in ways that place the concerns of women workers at their centre. However, there are significant limitations posed by the employment of a human rights “master frame” by pro‐migrant worker activists. These limitations include: the continued association between rights and gender‐blind universal (labour) standards; the linkage between rights and “public sphere” activities outside of the household realm; and the problematic relationship between universal notions of human rights and particularistic notions of citizenship under conditions of political authoritarianism.

Assessing EU Policy on Irregular Immigration Under the Stockholm Programme

The relationship between EU policy and the rights of undocumented migrants remains in tension. The status and treatment granted to undocumented migrants continues to be ‘invisible’ in EU policy strategies and responses. This is so despite the wide recognition and evidence of the vulnerability and insecurities these persons face in their access to fundamental rights. The ‘policy gap’ between current European policy-making under the third multiannual programme on the Union’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice – the Stockholm Programme – and the results emerging from social science research funded by EU institutions has been assessed and evidenced elsewhere. This collection of papers aims at moving the debate forward by substantiating these findings with the experiences and knowledge of a selected group of EU umbrella (civil society) organisations and practitioners representing key institutions in Europe on fundamental human rights. The papers include three contributions arising from the conference “Undocumented Migrants and the Stockholm Programme: Assuring Access to Rights?” held in Brussels on 9 March 2010. The conference was organised by CEPS, the European Trade Union Confederation, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants and EUROCITIES. The discussion is expanded by two further contributions, by representatives of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and Council of Europe’s Department of the European Social Charter. This collection concludes with a concrete set of policy recommendations and a four-point plan to reduce ‘irregularity’ in Europe.

All Quiet on the Eastern Front?—Temporary contract migration in Asia revisited from a development perspective

Although as such not new, the revival or continuation as well as expansion of temporary contract schemes as the main method by which to regulate economic migration legally is part and parcel of a new discourse on migration policy making: ‘management of migration’. Furthermore, this discourse and concomitant policy descriptions are related to the current phase of the debate on the relationship between migration and development. The focus on managing migration in its link to development revolves around the idea that orderly, legal migration schemes can benefit sending and receiving countries’ developmental and labour market needs as well as individual migrants themselves. The welfare and rights of migrant workers, however, remain the neglected dimension in this equation. As preference is given to temporary or circular migration policies, while little attention is paid to migrants’ rights beyond the rhetorical level, the question which arises pertains to migrants’ actual capability to contribute to development. In the attempt to address this question, the normative starting point of this paper is a rights-based approach to migration and development. The argument advanced revolves around the need to re-politicize this discourse and policy prescriptions. Empirically, my discussion is based on the ‘political activist work’ carried out by the regional migrant rights network in Asia, the Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA).

Acercamiento al derecho de la migración y la ciudadanía transnacional. El caso de los emigrantes mexicanos y sus derechos políticos

El concepto tradicional de ciudadanía (ligado al Estado-nación) y expresado teóricamente en los trabajos de T. H. Marshall y definidos como una serie de derechos agregados –civiles, políticos y sociales– es insuficiente para entender el fenómeno de la migración y los derechos políticos. Muchos trabajos han ido más allá de las propuestas teóricas de Marshall y como resultado conceptos como «ciudadanía cosmopolita», «ciudadanía diferenciada», «ciudadanía democrática», «ciudadanía multicultural» y «ciudadanía posnacional», han surgido para entender desde una perspectiva de las democracias liberales la ciudadanía en un contexto de globalización. Dichos conceptos han sido utilizados para promover políticas públicas de inclusión. Sin embargo, tanto los conceptos como las políticas, se han erigido en términos sólo de los países de destino y en una menor medida se le ha prestado atención a los países de origen de la emigración. En un esfuerzo por llenar este vacío teórico, el concepto de «ciudadanía transnacional» ha emergido recientemente en trabajos de varios autores. Este nuevo acercamiento al concepto de ciudadanía, que resalta los lazos culturales y económicos para justificar por qué los emigrantes que viven en un país distinto al suyo retienen el derecho de seguir siendo ciudadanos de su país, puede ayudarnos a entender casos como el de México y sus 8,5 millones de nacionales que viven actualmente fuera de sus fronteras. México les ha negado la ciudadanía política por lo que no tienen derechos políticos (p. ej. no pueden votar desde el exterior). El propósito de este trabajo es tratar de explicar cómo el transnacionalismo nos ayuda a entender por qué el Estado mexicano (elites políticas y partidistas), promueven o limitan los derechos de los emigrantes mexicanos dependiendo de una noción restrictiva de la ciudadanía o a cálculos políticos electorales.

Policing Migration in Soviet and Post-Soviet Moscow

Why and how does the Moscow city government limit the rights of migrants? How are Moscow police involved in enforcing these policies? Drawing on interviews, scholarly publications, and the Russian press, this article addresses these questions. Post-Soviet changes in migration to Moscow and the city government's efforts to restrict migration are examined as are changes in enforcing residence restrictions. Soviet and post-Soviet approaches to migration are compared and the relationship between political context and police conduct is analyzed to understand the relationship between the police and the contemporary Russian state.

Taking the human rights of migrants seriously: towards a decolonised global justice

This article proposes an epistemological decolonisation of liberal ideas of global justice which shifts emphasis from abstract morals to specific material aspects of individual and group human rights. In order to respond to the empirical needs of the contemporary South a decolonised global justice focuses on the human rights of a specific, rather than a generic, type of individual – the international migrant. More specifically, this proposal of a decolonised global justice bases the responsibility of nations towards documented and undocumented migrants on the universal material principle of ethics and the obligations of states with respect to the life of all people in every way in accordance with the general principles of the right to development. In order to establish the nature of this responsibility, the article also reinterprets the rights to movement, asylum, work and a dignified life for the formulation of rights to mobility.

Migrant Rights, Immigration Policy and Human Development

This paper explores the impacts of the rights of migrant workers (‘migrant rights’) on the human development of actual and potential migrants, their families, and other people in migrants’ countries of origin. A key feature of the paper is its consideration of how migrant rights affect both the capability to move and work in higher income countries (i.e. the access of workers in low‐income countries to labor markets of higher‐income countries) and capabilities while living and working abroad. The paper suggests that there may be a trade‐off between the number and some of the socio‐economic rights of low‐skilled migrant workers admitted to high‐income countries, and explores the implications for human development.

Advancing the Rights of Non-Citizens in Canada: A Human Rights Approach to Migrant Rights

Focusing on seasonal agricultural migrant workers in Canada, this article illustrates how local migrant rights activists have utilized different judicial fora to claim rights for non-citizen migrant workers under the international human rights framework. The article underscores the role of litigation by activists who, citing international norms and conventions, claim that protections provided by domestic constitutional provisions and labor laws should be extended to non-citizen migrants. The importance of judges' willingness to recognize the international law framework is also underscored. This article contributes to human rights studies by emphasizing the transformative role of judicial agency in the fight for the extension of human rights protections. Relative to citizens, non-citizens are a group lacking in political power and as such vulnerable to having their interests overlooked and their rights to equal concern and respect violated.

Xenophobia, International Migration and Development

Migration from developing to developed countries has been accompanied by growing resentment of immigrants and refugees. While xenophobic sentiment continues to be strongly entrenched in developed countries, it is increasingly prevalent in developing countries as well. This paper examines the rise of xenophobic sentiment and action in India and South Africa. The response of the state to xenophobic violence in each jurisdiction is considered. In each case, the ability of the state to formulate and implement remedial policies is compromised by its own complicity or denialism in regard to xenophobia. Without a coordinated international, regional and national recognition of the magnitude of the problem and the formulation of a coherent and coordinated response (including much more research on the actual rather than imagined impacts of migration), xenophobia will continue to undermine the rights of migrants and bedevil efforts to maximize the development potential of migration.

Numbers versus Rights in Low‐Skilled Labour Immigration Policy? A Comment on Cummins and Rodríguez (2010)

My paper for this special issue (Ruhs, 2010), which builds on analysis in a previous paper with Phil Martin (Ruhs and Martin, 2008), suggests the hypothesis of a trade‐off (i.e. an inverse relationship) between the number and some of the socio‐economic rights of low‐skilled migrant workers admitted to high‐income countries. Ruhs (2010) discusses the economic factors and mechanisms that may give rise to such a trade‐off and presents several brief case studies that, I argue, provide some illustrative empirical support for the existence of a trade‐off. As I make clear in the conclusion, there is ‘clearly a need for more systematic empirical research that includes a larger number of countries and that investigates alternative explanations of the relationship between the number and rights of low‐skilled migrant workers admitted to high‐income countries’ (Ruhs, 2010, p. 276) The paper by Cummins and Rodríguez (C&R, 2010) aims to provide this systematic empirical analysis. C&R conclude that their statistical tests ‘do not on the whole support the existence of a numbers versus rights trade‐off in immigration policy’ (2010, p. 283). The authors emphasize that the measurement of migrant rights and immigration policies is still at a nascent stage and that future assessments and better data ‘could, in turn, lead us to re‐evaluate the conclusions presented in this paper’ (p. 298). I consider the analysis by C&R unconvincing as a systematic empirical test of the numbers versus rights hypothesis for two reasons, namely: their conceptualization and measurement of the number of migrant workers in the context of this debate, and the indices used to measure the rights of migrant workers. I conclude with an outline of the systematic empirical analysis needed to advance the debate.

Transnationalism and Cosmopolitanism: Towards Global Citizenship?

The concept of transnationalism, despite a variety of earlier uses, has recently been used to describe the sociological phenomenon of cross-border migrants considering more than one place ‘home’. This can be in terms of identity and belonging, cultural expression, family and other social ties, visits, financial flows, organising working life in more than one nation-state or transnational political projects. In this paper I discuss the theory and practice of transnationalism to assess the practical, explanatory and normative strength of the concept. I then introduce three different forms of cosmopolitan approaches and assess whether transnational migrants' practices contribute to a cosmopolitan outlook and active global citizenship. I show that the extent to which transnationalism contributes to various forms of global citizenship varies according to the different conceptualisations of transnationalism and cosmopolitanism. In conclusion I draw out the implications of these differences for the future protection of the rights of migrants.

Gendered political economy and the politics of migrant worker rights: the view from South-East Asia

Focusing on the South-East Asian region and looking specifically at activism around the position of migrant domestic workers in the region, this article seeks to evaluate why migrant activist organisations appear to have had, at best, modest influence on gendering the International Labour Organization's approach to labour rights. The author argues that this is largely due to how dominant understandings of labour rights have neglected the significance of social relations of reproduction (i.e. those ‘care-related’ activities associated with the household) to the functioning of the labour market. Furthermore, a transnationalisation of social relations of reproduction is manifested in the increased feminisation of labour migration in the region and this highlights further problems with dominant labour rights perspectives that remain largely state-centric in their approach. The significance of South-East Asian states in promoting localised regimes of citizenship/immigration and industrial relations greatly limits the ability of activist groups to claim and utilise the language of human rights. Nonetheless, the article argues that a concern with the human rights of female migrants can potentially destabilise dominant understandings of labour and human rights. More generally, the article seeks to demonstrate the insights that a critical feminist human rights approach can bring to studies of work and employment within international political economy.