Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Erin B. Corcoran

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Guest Editor

School of Law, University of New Hampshire, Concord, NH 03301, USA
Interests: immigration law with focus on vulnerable populations including: migrant children, refugees, victims of human trafficking and domestic violence; federal legislation and policy; administrative law and procedure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Undocumented immigrants, children traveling alone, women fleeing sexual violence, refugees, and victims of human trafficking are cited as examples of vulnerable immigrant populations. While some of these individuals may qualify for protection under international treaties or domestic laws, such as refugees, many still are not able to avail themselves of protection despite their vulnerabilities and risk of harm. Moreover, some countries have increased efforts to deport individuals living without valid immigration permits, despite having significant familial and economic ties. The recent mass influxes of vulnerable populations fleeing both Syria and Central America has reinvigorated the debate surrounding what are the appropriate governmental responses to those fleeing harm. Reactions to these flows have been inconsistent. While some of those fleeing harm were offered a safe haven and the opportunity to apply for refugee status, many were also turned away and returned.

Mass influxes are not a migration anomaly, rather an ongoing global challenge. Some countries are becoming increasingly reluctant to welcome refugees and other vulnerable populations citing increased terrorist threats and a decreasing capacity to absorb large numbers of individuals into its economy and social fabric. Bilateral agreements with neighboring nation states are becoming more commonplace to curtail migration flows. Recent examples include: the U.S. government providing foreign aid to Mexico to stem the flow of Central American refugees from reaching its southern border; and the EU-Turkey deal to stop the flow of refugees from Turkey into Europe.

This Special Issue provides a forum to inquire if recent responses to vulnerable populations demonstrate a need to rethink about how to best protect these individuals. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: Who qualifies as vulnerable? Do existing international treaties provide sufficient protection from harm? What role can and should regional agreements play in protecting vulnerable populations? What type of legal redress should exist if States fail to provide protection? Besides the protection from return, what other rights should be accorded to vulnerable populations?

Prof. Erin B. Corcoran
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Deportation
Human rights
Human trafficking
Irregular migration
Refugees
Refugee resettlement
Refugee rights
Unaccompanied children
Undocumented migrants
Vulnerable populations

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

257 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vulnerability and the Right to Respect for Private Life as an Autonomous Source of Protection against Expulsion under Article 8 ECHR

by Sylvie Da Lomba

Laws 2017, 6(4), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws6040032 - 16 Dec 2017

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5737

Abstract

This paper focuses on settled migrants and calls for the construction of the right to respect for private life as an autonomous source of protection against expulsion under Article 8 ECHR. I contend that, as a core part of human existence, private life warrants meaningful protection. I posit that the fact that all settled migrants have established private life in the host State brings it to the fore of Article 8 expulsion cases. This argument finds strong support in the concept of belonging and transnational migration theory; both tell us that settled migrants’ host State has become their ‘own country’. Drawing on earlier work, I reclaim vulnerability as a foundation and tool of International Human Rights Law with a view to recognising migrants within the jurisdiction of ECHR States as fully-fledged ECHR subjects and making the European Court of Human Rights responsive to their vulnerability. I make the case for absolute protection against expulsion for second (and subsequent)-generation migrants and settled migrants who have spent most of their adult life in the host State. In respect of other settled migrants, I argue that the minimum protection standard should be that expulsion is only justifiable in exceptional circumstances. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Is a New Protection Framework Needed for Vulnerable Refugee and Migrant Populations?)

287 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A New Protection Orientation and Framework for Refugees and Other Forced Migrants

by James C. Simeon

Laws 2017, 6(4), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws6040030 - 14 Dec 2017

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6086

Abstract

The unprecedented current “refugee crisis,” with its 65 million plus uprooted people, demands a new protection orientation and framework for refugees and other forced migrants that are focused on the “root causes” of refugeehood, non-international protracted armed conflict or civil war. It is argued that four essential reforms are required to the international refugee protection system to respond to the “root causes” of refugees in the world today. The first calls for broadening the definition of who is a refugee to include “war refugees” as found in the 1984 Cartagena Declaration and the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention. The 1984 Cartagena Declaration is preferred because it has the most progressive and broadest legal definition of who is a refugee and, therefore, should be emulated by all regions and the UNHCR internationally. The second reform would be the adoption of the Cartagena Declaration decennial consultation process and its comprehensive Plan of Action by the UNHCR on a global basis. This process has proven to be a success in Latin America and ought to be adopted internationally to develop and to realize the progressive advancement of international protection for all persons who are fleeing persecution and armed conflict. The third major reform is to develop the capacity of the UN to be able to operate in the midst of an armed conflict situation in order to broker a ceasefire and, then, negotiate a peace agreement, particularly, in those situations where massed forced displacement has taken place or potentially could take place. The fourth reform calls for the UN to expand the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine to incorporate massed forced displacement, in addition to, war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and, genocide. This further implies that mass forced displacement ought to be criminalized and made a serious international crime, not simply in the international humanitarian law and international criminal law sense of forced deportation, transfers, and expulsions, by opposing military forces, but in situations of armed conflict when people flee of their own volition in order to save their lives. These four reforms do not require a reformulation or reconceptualization of the international refugee protection system but a reform of a number of key elements that would simultaneously address the “root causes” of refugees and, especially, mass forced displacement that is due principally to non-international protracted armed conflict or seemingly endless civil wars. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Is a New Protection Framework Needed for Vulnerable Refugee and Migrant Populations?)

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