Special Issue "Migrants and Human Rights Protections"

A special issue of Laws (ISSN 2075-471X). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Rights Issues".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 17724

Special Issue Editor

Law School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK
Interests: migrants’ human rights; migrants and citizenship; vulnerability theory; EU citizenship; international human rights law and post-national citizenship; EU and migration laws and policies; asylum and immigration law; migration governance; international migration law

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue investigates the effectiveness of human rights protections in respect of migrants. The theme of the Special Issue is nested within debates on the universality of human rights and global migration governance. Migration governance discourse and initiatives give prominence to migrants’ human rights; yet many migrants continue to experience violations of human rights and remain at the margins of human rights regimes.

Against this backdrop, the Special Issue explores whether and how human rights regimes can extend protections to migrants and recognise them as fully-fledged human rights subjects. It considers whether human rights regimes can be instrumental in cementing respect for human rights as a core ethical and normative underpinning of migration governance. 

The Special Issue will contribute to scholarship in the fields of human rights law, migration studies and migration governance. The inquiry into migrants and human rights protections engages with international and regional human rights regimes. It recognises that migrants form a heterogeneous group and explores protection standards across all spheres of life (civil, socio-economic, and political).

We invite submissions that interrogate the question of human rights protections for migrants from a range of perspectives. Submissions may, for example, focus on a particular human rights regime, adopt a comparative approach, examine specific human right(s), or/and consider a particular group of migrants. Submission may also engage with the theme of the Special Issue from a theoretical perspective.

Dr. Sylvie Da Lomba
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Laws is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Migrants’ human rights
  • Regional Human rights regimes
  • Global migration governance
  • Immigration laws and policies
  • States’ margin of appreciation
  • Migratory status
  • Migrants’ socio-economic circumstances
  • Social and economic rights
  • Civil and political rights

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Article
Directing the Legal Radar at Forced Labour—Under Special Consideration of Male Victims in Norway
Laws 2022, 11(3), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws11030039 - 22 Apr 2022
Viewed by 2207
Abstract
Human trafficking in the form of labour exploitation appears to have gone under the legal radar domestically, regionally, and internationally, with ensuing grave consequences for the victims concerned. This paper critically discusses the current legal developments and interpretations of global and regional legal [...] Read more.
Human trafficking in the form of labour exploitation appears to have gone under the legal radar domestically, regionally, and internationally, with ensuing grave consequences for the victims concerned. This paper critically discusses the current legal developments and interpretations of global and regional legal sources on forced labour and the challenges they face. A legal analysis is supplemented by information obtained through interviews with 14 presumed male victims of forced labour, who recently escaped a coercive work situation and were living in a safe house in Oslo (Norway). The paper will demonstrate the shortcomings of the law and its application, using the case of Norway and the affected men as an example. It examines the case law of the European Court of Human Rights using a vulnerability approach and argues that the inaction in preventing and prosecuting crimes committed towards people who are exploited for forced labour is a violation of their human rights and may be interpreted as granting impunity to their perpetrators. The situation for male victims of forced labour is particularly severe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Migrants and Human Rights Protections)
Article
The Unaccompanied Child’s Right to Legal Assistance and Representation in Asylum Procedures under EU Law
Laws 2022, 11(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws11010011 - 29 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3471
Abstract
The independent migration of children today is a global phenomenon present in many regions worldwide, where unaccompanied minors seeking asylum do not enjoy full protection of their rights. Among their procedural safeguards, the right to legal assistance and representation is a fundamental right [...] Read more.
The independent migration of children today is a global phenomenon present in many regions worldwide, where unaccompanied minors seeking asylum do not enjoy full protection of their rights. Among their procedural safeguards, the right to legal assistance and representation is a fundamental right strictly related to the realization of other rights contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Nevertheless, despite the fundamental role that guardians and legal advisors play in the wellbeing of unaccompanied children seeking asylum, many issues are currently affecting the exercise and implementation of this fundamental right in several European Union Member States. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the content and scope of protection of this right under EU law, while highlighting the existence of possible ambiguities or gaps in current legal standards. Which EU law rules currently protect unaccompanied minors’ access to legal assistance? What changes are necessary in order to strengthen that protection for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum? These are some of the questions that this paper addresses in order to critically analyze the level of protection that Europe has provided to unaccompanied children’s right to legal assistance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Migrants and Human Rights Protections)
Article
Expanding the Protection of Children’s Rights towards a Dignified Life: The Emerging Jurisprudential Developments in the Americas
Laws 2021, 10(4), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws10040084 - 09 Nov 2021
Viewed by 3081
Abstract
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACrtHR) has developed in recent years an innovative jurisprudence that has integrated the entity and extension of States’ obligations regarding children’s rights—as established in Article 19 ACHR—through the evolutive, dynamic, and effective interpretation of the American Convention [...] Read more.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACrtHR) has developed in recent years an innovative jurisprudence that has integrated the entity and extension of States’ obligations regarding children’s rights—as established in Article 19 ACHR—through the evolutive, dynamic, and effective interpretation of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). In fact, by acknowledging the existence of an international corpus juris for the protection of children’s rights, the Court has examined this provision in the light of instruments enshrined within the corpus juris, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This process of normative integration was not only limited to the application of international instruments adopted outside of the Inter-American system, but also includes internal references to interconnected rights recognised within the American Convention. Consequently, by analysing the scope of Article 19 ACHR in the light of Article 4 ACHR (right to life) and the corpus juris for the protection of children, the Inter-American Court has further expanded the protection of children’s rights towards the protection of the right to a dignified life. While focusing on the landmark jurisprudence developed by IACrtHR, this paper seeks to unveil the hermeneutical paths undertaken by the regional tribunal in connection with the systemic integration of Article 19 ACHR. In particular, it focuses on the emerging jurisprudential development of positive obligations upon States Members regarding the effective protection of children’s right to a dignified existence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Migrants and Human Rights Protections)
Article
No Place Called Home. The Banishment of ‘Foreign Criminals’ in the Public Interest: A Wrong without Redress
Laws 2020, 9(4), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws9040026 - 17 Nov 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4221
Abstract
This article examines the legal and ethical rationale for the deportation of ‘foreign criminals’ who have established their homes in the United Kingdom. It argues that provisions relating to automatic deportation constitute a second punishment that can be more accurately described as banishment. [...] Read more.
This article examines the legal and ethical rationale for the deportation of ‘foreign criminals’ who have established their homes in the United Kingdom. It argues that provisions relating to automatic deportation constitute a second punishment that can be more accurately described as banishment. The human rights of those defined as ‘foreign criminals’ have been reduced to privileges that are easily withdrawn with reference to the ill-defined public interest. The ability to challenge deportation is then compromised by a non-suspensive appeal process that deliberately undermines the right to an effective remedy whilst further damaging private and family life. With reference to social membership and domicile theories of belonging, it is suggested that those who have made their lives in the UK and established their place and domicile here should be regarded as unconditional members of civil society. As such, they are entitled to equality of treatment in the criminal justice system and should be immune from punitive ‘crimmigration’ measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Migrants and Human Rights Protections)
Article
Human Rights of Children in the Context of Migration Processes. Innovative Efforts for Integrating Regional Human Rights Standards in the Americas
Laws 2019, 8(4), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws8040031 - 22 Nov 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3535
Abstract
This paper proposes a critical analysis of the innovative jurisprudential approaches taken by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in integrating the content and scope of protection of the human rights of children, in the context of migration processes. How might one provide [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a critical analysis of the innovative jurisprudential approaches taken by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in integrating the content and scope of protection of the human rights of children, in the context of migration processes. How might one provide an effective protection to unaccompanied children that enter irregularly into the territory of a given country, when the safeguards guaranteed at the national level are elusive or inefficient? By focusing on the pioneering jurisprudence developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in recent years, this paper intends to unveil how a systemic integration of children’s rights, under the light of the current international law developments, could provide an effective protection for the rights of children in the context of migration processes. In fact, as a result of an evolutive, dynamic and effective interpretation, the regional tribunal has expanded the scope of protection of the American Convention on Human Rights, by taking into consideration and making known, references to instruments and provisions enshrined within the corpus juris of international human rights law, such as the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, and—consequently—improving the level of protection of millions of children in the Americas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Migrants and Human Rights Protections)
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