This book describes the experiences of undocumented migrants, all around the world, bringing to life the challenges they face from the moment they consider leaving their country of origin, until the time they are deported back to it. Drawing on a broad array of academic studies, including law, interpretation and translation studies, border studies, human rights, communication, critical discourse analysis and sociology, Robert Barsky argues that the arrays of actions that are taken against undocumented migrants are often arbitrary, and exercised by an array of officials who can and do exercise considerable discretion, both positive and negative. Employing insights from a decade-long research project, Barsky also finds that every stop along the migrant's pathway into, and inside of, the host country is strewn with language issues, relating to intercultural communication, interpretation, gossip, hearsay, and the challenges of peddling of linguistic wares in the social discourse marketplace. These language issues are almost always impediments to anodyne or productive interactions with host country officials, particularly on the "front-lines" where migrants encounter border patrol and law enforcement officers without adequate means of communicating their situation or understanding their rights. Since undocumented people are categorized as 'illegal', they can be subjected to abuse and exploitation by host country officials, who can choose to either tolerate or punish them on the basis of unpredictable, changeable, and even illusory or "arbitrary" laws and regulations. Citing experts at every level of the undocumented immigrant apparatuses worldwide, from public defenders to interpreters, Barsky concludes that the only viable policy to address prevailing abuses and inequalities is to move towards open borders, an approach that would address prevailing issues and, surprisingly, provide security and economic benefits to both host and home countries.

This book brings together scholars from various disciplines to explore current issues and trends in the rethinking of migration and citizenship from the perspective of three major immigrant democracies - Australia, Canada, and the United States. These countries share a history of pronounced immigration and emigration, extensive experience with diasporic and mobile communities, and with integrating culturally diverse populations. They also share an approach to automatic citizenship based on the principle of jus soli (as opposed to the traditionally common jus sanguinis of continental Europe), and a comparatively open attitude towards naturalization. Some of these characteristics are now under pressure due to the "restrictive turn" in citizenship and migration worldwide. This volume explores the significance of political structures, political agents and political culture in shaping processes of inclusion and exclusion in these diverse societies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Citizenship Studies.

This book examines the rules governing the right to asylum in the European Union. Drawing on the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1967 Protocol, Francesco Cherubini asks how asylum obligations under international refugee law have been incorporated into the European Union. The book draws from international law, EU law and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and focuses on the prohibition of refoulement; the main obligation the EU law must confront. Cherubini explores the dual nature of this principle, examining both the obligation to provide a fair procedure that determines the conditions of risk in the country of origin or destination, and the obligation to respond to a possible expulsion. Through this study the book sheds light on EU competence in asylum when regarding the different positions of Member States. The book will be of great use and interest to researchers and students of asylum and immigration law, EU law, and public international law.

Sixty years on from the signing of the Refugee Convention, forced migration and refugee movements continue to raise global concerns for hosting states and regions, for countries of origin, for humanitarian organisations on the ground, and, of course, for the refugee. This edited volume is framed around two themes which go to the core of contemporary refugeehood: protection and identity. It analyses how the issue of refugee identity is shaped by and responds to the legal regime of refugee protection in contemporary times.

The book investigates the premise that there is a narrowing of protection space in many countries and many highly visible incidents" "of" refoulement." It argues that Protection, which is a core focus of the Refugee Convention, appears to be under threat, as there are many gaps and inconsistencies in practice.

Contributors to the volume, who include Erika Feller, Elspeth Guild, Helene Lambert and Roger Zetter, look at the relevant issues from the perspective of a number of different disciplines including law, politics, sociology, and anthropology. The chapters examine the link between identity and protection as a basis for understanding how the Refugee Convention has been and is being applied in policy and practice. The situation in a number of jurisdictions and regions in Europe, North America, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East is explored in order to ask the question does jurisprudence under the Refugee Convention need better coordination and how successful is oversight of the Convention?"

In recent decades, asylum has emerged as a highly politicized European issue. The term 'asylum seeker' has suffered a negative perception and has been associated with notions of illegality and criminality in mainstream media. These misconceptions have been supported by politicians as a distraction from economic and political uncertainties with the result that asylum seekers have been deprived of significant rights. This book examines the effect of recent attempts of harmonization on the identification and protection of refugees. It considers the extent of obligations on the state to admit and protect refugees and examines the 1951 Refugee Convention. The motivations of European legislators and legislation concerning asylum procedures and reception conditions are also analysed. Proposals and initiatives for refugee movements and determinations are examined and assessed. The author makes suggestions for better protection of refugees while responding to the security concerns of States, and questions whether European law and policy is doing enough to uphold the fundamental right to seek and enjoy asylum as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This book takes a bold look at a controversial issue and generates discussion for those involved in the fields of human rights, migrational and transnational studies, law and society and international law.

This discerning book examines EU migration and asylum polices in times of crisis by assessing old and new patterns of cooperation in EU migration management policies in the scope of third-country cooperation. The case studies explored reveal that there has been a clear tendency and strategy to move away from or go outside the decision making rules and institutional principles enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty to advance third country cooperation on migration management. It explores the implications of and effects of the adoption of extra-Treaty instruments and patterns of cooperation in the light of EU rule of law and fundamental rights principles and standards. The book, examines the ways in which the politics of migration crisis and their patterns of cooperation and legal/policy outcomes evidenced since 2015 affect and might even undermine EU's legitimacy in these policy areas. Constitutionalising the External Dimensions of EU Migration Policies in Times of Crisis will be a key resource for academics and students focussing on EU Law and migration more specifically. Timely and engaging, it will also appeal to policy- makers, legal practitioners and international organisation representatives alike.

Inside Immigration Law analyses the practice of implementing immigration law, examining the different political and organisational forces that influence the process. Based on unparalleled academic access to the German migration management system, this book provides new insights into the 'black box' of regulating immigration, revealing how the application of immigration law to individual cases can be chaotic, improvised and sometimes arbitrary, and either informed or distorted by the complex, politically laden and changeable nature of both German and EU immigration laws. Drawing on extensive empirical material, including participant observation, interviews and analyses of public as well as confidential documents in German immigration offices, Inside Immigration Law unveils the complex practices of decision-making and work organisation in a politically contested environment. A comparative, critical evaluation of the work of offices that examines the discretion and client interactions of bureaucrats, the management of legal knowledge and symbolism and the relationships between immigration offices and external political forces, this book will be of interest to sociologists, legal scholars and political scientists working in the areas of migration, integration and the study of work and organisations.

This book is a comprehensive assessment of regional responses to the crisis in the asylum/refugee system and critically examines how different regions tackle the problem. The chapters consider the fundamental challenges which undermine an effective asylum process as well as regional difficulties with the various circumstances surrounding African asylum seekers. With contributions on Africa, Europe, Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East, the collection strives to appreciate what informs each region's approach to the asylum process and asks if there are issues common to every region and if regions can learn from each other. Including a discussion on the protection of asylum seekers within the African human rights system, the book seeks an understanding of what legal regime exists for the protection of refugees and how regional institutions such as human rights commissions and regional courts enforce and adjudicate the law.The book will be valuable to those interested in international law, migration and human rights.

Refugee law is both conceived as a response to the absence of human rights, and is one of the most powerful means by which human rights are restored. This comprehensive collection of leading scholarship examines the strengths of, and challenges faced by, international refugee law over its nearly century-long existence. Following an original introduction by Professor Hathaway, Volume I addresses the questions of the political and ethical reasons that states have agreed to implement refugee protection in international law; the conceptual boundaries of refugee status; and the systems and structures by which refugee rights are implemented. Volume II takes up the nature of contemporary challenges to the refugee law regime, and examines leading proposals to revitalize and reform international refugee law in order to sustain its vitality in modern circumstances. This topical volume will be of great interest to researchers and scholars in both law and related fields, as well as to lawyers and other practitioners working on asylum and related human rights issues.

This book critically analyses the case law on EU citizenship in relation to its personal free movement rights, its status on the primary law level, and EU fundamental rights protection. The book exposes the legal space where EU citizenship variably loses or gains legal relevance, and questions how this space can be overcome. Through a thorough analysis of the core personal free movement rights of residence, family reunification, equal treatment and equal political participation, the book demonstrates how the development of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union has generated a two-tiered legal concept of EU citizenship. Depending on the nature of the legal claim at hand, EU citizenship may appear as a poor legal personhood for exercising free movement rights; sometimes pushing the individual who is in a factual cross-border situation out of the scope of Union law. Contrastingly, in other strands of the jurisprudence, we see EU citizenship and its primary law levelled-rights stretch the jurisdictional scope of Union law, triggering the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights for review of the individual case. The book enhances the understanding of the legal concept of EU citizenship in Union law and contributes to the debate on the future development of EU citizenship, its relationship to the Charter, and the strength of its legal position for the person who exercises freedom of movement.

This book examines the role and impact of EU, international human rights and refugee law on national laws and policies for integration and argues for a broad understanding of the relationship between integration and the law. It analyses the legal foundations of integration at the international and regional levels and examines the interaction of national, EU and international legal spheres, highlighting the significance of these dimensions of the relationship between integration and the law. The book draws together these central themes to enhance our understanding of the connections between integration and the law. It also makes specific recommendations for the development of holistic, human-rights based approaches to integration in EU Member States. The book will be of value to academics and researchers working in the areas of immigration, and refugee law, as well as those interested in cultural diversity both from a legal and sociological perspective.

Each year, thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers apply for asylum in EU Member States.This book considers the position of LGBTI asylum seekers in European asylum law. Developing an encompassing approach to the topic, the book identifies and analyzes the main legal issues arising in relation to LGBTI people seeking asylum including: the underestimation of the relevance of criminalization of sexual orientation as well as the large scale violence against trans people in countries of origin by some European states; the requirement to seek State protection against violence even when they originate from countries where sexual orientation or gender identity is criminalized, or where the authorities are homophobic; the particular hurdles faced during credibility assessment on account of persisting stereotypes; and queer families and refugee law. The book gives a state of the art overview of law in Europe, both at the level of European legislation and at the level of Member State practice. While being largely focused on Europe, the book also takes into account asylum decisions from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States and is of relevance internationally, offering analysis of issues which are not specific to particular legal systems.

This volume comprises national reports on migration and migration law from 17 countries representing all continents. The vast majority of these are countries of immigration, which means they face specific challenges in terms of managing migratory flows that are increasingly linked with climate change and scarce natural resources worldwide, and they need to find viable ways to integrate humanitarian migration. Unlike so many recent publications in the field of international migration law, this book brings together reports on diverse countries that are rarely regarded as part of one and the same picture, depicting globalized migration in the contemporary era that to a large extent challenges state sovereignty. The contributions delineate the legal regimes that individual states are continually developing and modifying with a view to managing and controlling access of individual persons to their respective territories. They also show how the restrictive measures that states resort to in the event of failure to manage migration could have a lasting legal impact. The General Report preceding the country reports provides a comparative overview of the national reports, and is divided into two parts. The first, more technical in nature, addresses the classic questions relating to admission to and residence in a country. The second, more reflective section, examines the relationship between laws and migration in a wider and multidisciplinary perspective. To allow a robust comparison, the country reports all follow a similarly wide-ranging structure; to the extent possible, they also cover the historical, sociological and demographic factors that help explain legal regimes and migratory flows in each country. Each country report includes analyses of recent legislative developments and delicate questions that are still awaiting adequate (legal) responses as well as perspectives for the future.

With unprecedented numbers of children on the move in search of safety, Protecting Migrant Children explores the complex legal and human rights issues that arise when children cross borders as migrants. It critically examines the strengths and weaknesses of international and domestic laws with the aim of identifying best practice for migrant children. The book brings together an interdisciplinary and multinational group of experts to assess the nature and root causes of child migration in different parts of the world, featuring national and comparative case studies in Australia, Canada, Europe, the United States and parts of Asia and Africa. The contributors address systematically the many challenges experienced and posed by young people who cross borders in search of protection, or a better quality of life. Identifying the many universal issues facing states who play host to these children, the book lays the foundations for new paradigms in law, policy and practice in the reception and management of child migrants, refugees and victims of trafficking. Topical and engaging, this book is an important resource for academics and students in human rights law; migration and refugee law; the administrative and procedural issues of refugee law, and comparative law; as well as in the social sciences and health sciences. Policymakers and workers within the community sector will also find this book stimulating and informative. Contributors include: E.O. Abuya, F. Anello, T. Baker, L.B. Benson, S. Bolton, K. Bones, M. Crock, C. Danisi, D. Ghezelbash, P. Goldberg, C. Holguin, C. Jarvis, K. Kapur, M.A. Kenny, J. Lelliott, M. Loughry, A. Malakooti, H. Martin, I. Martinez, G.L. Neuman, A. Olusese, S. Petros, G. Sadoway, A. Schloenhardt, S. Taylor, C. Thomas, D. Thronson, G. Triggs, K. Tyler, K. van Doore, S. Whitman, P. Yule, M. Zou

This volume engages human rights, domestic immigration law, refugee policy in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and scholarship to examine forced migration, refugee resettlement, asylum seeker experiences, policies and programs for refugee well-being in North America and Europe. Given the recent "re-politicization" of forced migration and refugees in Europe and the U.S., this edited collection presents an in-depth, multi-dimensional analysis of the history of policies and laws related to the status of refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe and the challenges and prospects of refugee and asylum seeker assistance and integration in the 21st century. The book provides rich insights on institutional perspectives critical to understanding the politics and practices of refugee resettlement and the asylum process in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including international human rights and humanitarian law as well as domestic laws and policies related to forced migrants. Issues addressed include social welfare supports for resettled refugees; culturally responsive health and mental health approaches to working with refugees and asylum seekers; systemic failures in the asylum processing systems; and rights-based approaches to working with forced migrant children. The book also examines policy developments and strategies to advance the well-being and social inclusion of refugees in the U.S. and Europe. Provides 12 contributed chapters covering the legal, historical, and contemporary issues facing refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe Includes several case studies from individuals who came to the U.S. as refugees from a range of other nations Covers the medical, mental health, and social issues faced by new refugees and asylum seekers Discusses the fraught politics of creating just policies for forced migrants in North America and Europe

On the Right of Exclusion: Law, Ethics and Immigration Policy addresses Western immigration policies regarding so-called `normal migrants i.e. migrants without a legal right to admission. The book argues that if authorities cannot substantially justify the exclusion of a normal migrant, the latter should be admitted. By contrast, today authorities still believe they may deny normal migrants admission to the territory without giving them proper justification. Bas Schotel challenges this state of affairs and calls for a reversal of the default position in admission laws. The justification should, he argues, involve a serious accounting for the interests and reasons applicable to the normal migrant seeking admission. Furthermore, the first burden of justification should lie with the authorities. To build this case, the book makes three types of argument: legal, ethical and institutional. The legal argument shows that there are no grounds in either sovereignty or the structure of law for current admission practices. Whilst this legal argument accounts for a duty to justify exclusion, the ethical argument shows why the authorities should carry the first burden of justification. Finally, the institutional argument explores how this new position might be implemented. An original, yet practical, undermining of the logic that underlies current immigration laws, On the Right of Exclusion: Law, Ethics and Immigration Policy will be essential reading for those with intellectual, political and policy interests in this area.

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.

Cultural Expertise and Litigation addresses the role of social scientists as a source of expert evidence, and is a product of their experiences and observations of cases involving litigants of South Asian origin. What is meant in court by "culture," "custom" and "law"? How are these concepts understood by witnesses, advocates, judges and litigants? How far are cross-cultural understandings facilitated - or obscured - in the process? What strategies are adopted? And which ones turn out to be successful in court? How is cultural understanding - and misunderstanding - produced in these circumstances? And how, moreover, do the decisions in these cases not only reflect, but impact, upon the law and the legal procedure? Cultural Expertise and Litigation addresses these questions, as it elicits the patterns, conflicts and narratives that characterize the legal role of social scientists in a variety of de facto plural settings - including immigration and asylum law, family law, citizenship law and criminal law.

Sanctuary Practices in International Perspectives examines the diverse, complex, and mutating practice of providing sanctuary to asylum-seekers. The ancient tradition of church sanctuary underwent a revival in the late 1970s. Immigrants living without legal status and their supporters, first in the United Kingdom, and then in the US, Canada, and elsewhere in Europe, have resorted to sanctuary practices to avoid and resist arrest and deportation by state authorities. Sanctuary appeared amidst a dramatic rise in asylum-seekers arriving in Western countries and a simultaneous escalation in national and international efforts to discourage and control their arrival and presence through myriad means, including deportation. This collection of papers by prominent US, European, Canadian, and Japanese scholars is the first to place contemporary sanctuary practices in international, theoretical, and historical perspective. Moving beyond isolated case studies of sanctuary activities and movements, it reveals sanctuary as a far more complex, varied, theoretically-rich, and institutionally-adaptable set of practices.

Refugees living with disabilities are often forgotten or invisible during acute crises of human displacement. This groundbreaking work examines the experiences of persons with disabilities who have crossed borders in search of protection from disasters or conflict, and analyses the existing legal frameworks for their protection. The authors deftly explore the intersection between one of the oldest international human rights treaties, the 1951 Refugee Convention, with one of the newest, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Drawing on pioneering fieldwork in six countries - Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Uganda, Jordan and Turkey - this book examines how the CRPD is, or should be, changing the way that governments and aid agencies engage with and accommodate refugees with disabilities. Its timeliness is underscored by the adoption in 2016 of the UN Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action at the World Humanitarian Summit. Engaging and thought-provoking, this book will captivate any scholar studying international law, development, disability rights and refugee and forced migration studies. It is also an imperative resource for practitioners and policymakers in the humanitarian and development sector, as well as international human rights organisations.

This book considers the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees contribution to international refugee law since the establishment of UNHCR by the United Nations General Assembly in 1951. The book explores the historical and statutory foundations that create an indelible link between UNHCR and international refugee law. This book charts the significant evolution that has occurred in the organisation s role throughout the last sixty years, looking at both the formal means by which UNHCR s mandate may be modified, and the techniques UNHCR has used to facilitate the changes in its role, thereby revealing a significant evolution in the organisation s role since the onset of the crisis in refugee protection in the 1980 s. UNHCR, itself, has demonstrated its organizational autonomy as the primary agent for the adaptation of its responsibilities and work related to international refugee law. The author does suggest however that UNHCR needs to continue to extend and strengthen its role related to international refugee law if UNHCR is to ensure a stronger legal framework for the protection of refugees as well as a fuller respect for refugees rights in practice.

UNHCR and International Refugee Law should be of particular interest to refugee lawyers as well as academics and students of refugee law and international law, and anyone concerned with the important role that UNHCR plays in the protection of refugees today.

Touching on the laws and practices of a wide array of countries around the globe, this book examines the extent to which refugees and asylum-seekers' right to work is protected by international human rights law. The book examines a number of key international treaties, national constitutions and some foundational cases from national courts in order to make the case that the practise of restricting refugees and asylum-seekers access to the labour market is illegal. In so doing, the author examines some intricate legal questions, such as the interpretation of the Refugee Convention's provisions restricting rights to refugees 'lawfully staying', the application of racial discrimination to citizenship distinctions, and the ways in which limitations on human rights are applicable in this context. The book also looks at some broader philosophical questions such as the meaning of equality and human dignity, and the legitimacy of the right to work. The book goes on to explore broader debates concerning migration and 'open borders' in order to unpack the fears that drive many countries' restrictive measures. Readers are invited to consider whether the world would be a better place with more freedom of movement. It is a unique stand-alone treatment of the subject and includes the Michigan Guidelines on the Right to Work. Reworking the Relationship between Asylum-Seekers and Employment is written in an accessible style that will appeal to academics, policy-makers, practitioners and students. It combines a strong black-letter approach with a law in context approach that explains why the law takes its current shape and questions current orthodoxy.

Patterns of im/mobility, collective identity and conflict are highly entangled. The im/mobility of a social or cultural group has major impact on how identity narratives, a sense of belonging and relationships to 'others' are shaped, and vice versa. These dynamics are closely interlinked with mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion between groups and power structures that involve a broad variety of actors from local populations, to migrants, government institutions and other intermediaries. Mainly looking at patterns of internal mobility such as 'traditional' or strategic mobilities and mobilities enforced by crisis, conflict or governmental programmes and regimes, this book aims to go beyond currently predominant issues of transnational migration. Dynamics of non/integration and belonging, caused by im/mobility, are analysed on a cultural and political level, which involves questions of representation, indigeneity/autochthony, political rights and access to land and other resources. With ethnographic case studies from Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Bangladesh, East Timor and Indonesia, this volume provides a comparative perspective on the multifold dimensions of im/mobility in contexts where changing mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion trigger or settle conflicts and social identities are constantly re/negotiated. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Social Identities.

Due process protections are among the most important Constitutional protections in the United States, yet they do not apply to non-citizens facing detention and deportation. Due Process Denied describes the consequences of this lack of due process through the stories of deportees and detainees. People who have lived nearly all of their lives in the United States have been detained and deported for minor crimes, without regard for constitutional limits on disproportionate punishment. The court's insistence that deportation is not punishment does not align with the experiences of deportees. For many, deportation is one of the worst imaginable punishments.

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.