Bradley, Costello, & Sherwood: IOM Unbound? Obligations and Accountability of the International Organization for Migration in an Era of Expansion

Megan Bradley (McGill Univ.), Cathryn Costello (Univ. of Oxford), & Angela Sherwood (Queen Mary Univ. of London) have published IOM Unbound? Obligations and Accountability of the International Organization for Migration in an Era of Expansion (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

It is an era of expansion for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an increasingly influential actor in the global governance of migration. Bringing together leading experts in international law and international relations, this collection examines the dynamics and implications of IOM's expansion in a new way. Analyzing IOM as an international organization (IO), the book illuminates the practices, obligations and accountability of this powerful but controversial actor, advancing understanding of IOM itself and broader struggles for IO accountability. The contributions explore key, yet often under-researched, IOM activities including its role in humanitarian emergencies, internal displacement, data collection, ethical labour recruitment, and migrant detention. Offering recommendations for reforms rooted in empirical evidence and careful normative analysis, this is a vital resource for all those interested in the obligations and accountability of international organizations, and in the field of migration. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Olakpe: South-South Migrations and the Law from Below: Case Studies on China and Nigeria

Oreva Olakpe (Toronto Metropolitan Univ.) has published South-South Migrations and the Law from Below: Case Studies on China and Nigeria (Hart Publishing 2023). Here's the abstract:

This book explores the narratives and experiences of people in the Global South as they encounter the impact of international law in their lives. It looks specifically at approaches to international migrations and the law, as states in the Global South confront migration-related challenges.

Taking a case study approach, drawn from the experiences of undocumented and displaced migrants in China and Nigeria, the book shows how informal justice systems not only exist but are upheld. With an innovative analysis drawing both on intersectionality and a Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), it moves away from the classic international versus regional and domestic law approach to reveal the experience of the Third World in relation to the law.

Workshop: Externalisation of Migration Controls and Accountability Challenges in International Law

On May 26, 2023, a workshop on "Externalisation of Migration Controls and Accountability Challenges in International Law" will be held at Utrecht University. Details are here.

Likibi: La protection internationale de l’enfant en situation de migration

Romuald Likibi has published La protection internationale de l’enfant en situation de migration (Éditions du Panthéon 2022). Here's the abstract:

Les migrations internationales sont en constante augmentation et il en est de même du nombre de mineurs engagés, volontairement ou non, dans un processus migratoire. Il était devenu important d’avoir un ouvrage sur les différentes formes de protection auxquelles ils peuvent prétendre en fonction de leur situation (demandeur d’asile, réfugié, apatride, déplacé, migrant, étranger accompagné ou isolé…). Cette étude est à destination des travailleurs sociaux, des associations de défense des droits des migrants, mais surtout des dirigeants politiques et des États. Ces derniers se doivent de respecter la totalité de leurs engagements internationaux et d’apporter une réelle assistance à une catégorie particulièrement vulnérable.

Call for Papers: Workshop on "Accountability for Externalisation of Migration Policy"

A call for papers has been issued for a workshop on "Accountability for Externalisation of Migration Policy," to be held May 26, 2023, at Utrecht University. The call is here.

Call for Papers: Entanglements in Refugee and Migration Law

To celebrate its fortieth anniversary, the Nordic Asylum Law Seminar has issued a call for papers for a conference on May 22-24, 2023, in Copenhagen. The theme is: "Entanglements in Refugee and Migration Law." The call is here.

Johns, Langer, & Peters: Migration and the Demand for Transnational Justice

Leslie Johns (Univ. of California, Los Angeles), Máximo Langer (Univ. of California, Los Angeles), & Margaret E. Peters (Univ. of California, Los Angeles) have published Migration and the Demand for Transnational Justice (American Political Science Review, Vol. 116, no. 4, pp. 1184–1207, November 2022). Here’s the abstract:

Domestic courts sometimes prosecute foreign nationals for severe crimes—like crimes against humanity, genocide, torture, and war crimes—committed on foreign territory against foreign nationals. We argue that migrants can serve as agents of transnational justice. When migrants move across borders, as both economic migrants and refugees, they often pressure local governments to conduct criminal investigations and trials for crimes that occurred in their sending state. We also examine the effect of explanatory variables that have been identified by prior scholars, including the magnitude of atrocities in the sending state, the responsiveness of the receiving state to political pressure, and the various economic and political costs of prosecutions. We test our argument using the first multivariate statistical analysis of universal jurisdiction cases, focusing on multiple stages of prosecutions. We conclude that transnational justice is a justice remittance in which migrants provide accountability and remedies for crimes in their sending states.

Angeleri: Irregular Migrants and the Right to Health

Stefano Angeleri (Queen's Univ. Belfast) has published Irregular Migrants and the Right to Health (Cambridge Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

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.

Baumgärtel & Miellet: Theorizing Local Migration Law and Governance

Moritz Baumgärtel & Sara Miellet have published Theorizing Local Migration Law and Governance (Cambridge Univ. Press 2022). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

In many regions around the world, the governance of migration increasingly involves local authorities and actors. This edited volume introduces theoretical contributions that, departing from the 'local turn' in migration studies, highlight the distinct role that legal processes, debates, and instruments play in driving this development. Drawing on historical and contemporary case studies, it demonstrates how paying closer analytical attention to legal questions reveals the inherent tensions and contradictions of migration governance. By investigating socio-legal phenomena such as sanctuary jurisdictions, it further explores how the law structures ongoing processes of (re)scaling in this domain. Beyond offering conceptual and empirical discussions of local migration governance, this volume also directly confronts the pressing normative questions that follow from the growing involvement of local authorities and actors.

Ferracioli: Liberal Self-Determination in a World of Migration

Luara Ferracioli (Univ. of Sydney - Philosophy) has published Liberal Self-Determination in a World of Migration (Oxford Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

The values of freedom and equality are at the heart of what it means for liberal states to do justice to their citizens. Yet, when it comes to the question of whether liberal states are capable of realizing the values of freedom and equality while controlling their borders, many philosophers are skeptical that liberalism and existing immigration arrangements can in fact be reconciled. After all, liberal states often deny entrance to prospective immigrants who are fleeing extreme forms of violence. They also often police their borders in ways that are discriminatory and stigmatizing, contributing to a situation where immigrants are treated as morally inferior by society at large. Such practices conflict strongly with any commitment to the values of freedom and equality.

Luara Ferracioli here focuses on three key questions regarding the movement of persons across international borders: What gives some residents of a liberal society a right to be considered citizens of that society such that they have a claim to make decisions with regard to its political future? And do citizens of a liberal society have a prima facie right to exclude prospective immigrants despite their commitment to the values of freedom and equality? Finally, if citizens have this prima facie right to exclude prospective immigrants, are there moral requirements regarding how they may exercise it? The book therefore tackles the most pressing philosophical questions that arise from immigration: the questions of who can exercise self-determination, and why they have such a right in the first place.

Stoyanova & Smet: Migrants' Rights, Populism and Legal Resilience in Europe

Vladislava Stoyanova (Lunds Universitet) & Stijn Smet (Hasselt Universiteit) have published Migrants' Rights, Populism and Legal Resilience in Europe (Cambridge Univ. Press 2022). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Bringing together scholars of migration and constitutional law, this volume analyses the problematic relationship between the rise of populism, restrictions of migrants' rights and democratic decay in Europe. By offering both constructive and critical accounts, it creates a nuanced debate on the possibilities for and limitations of legal resilience against populist erosion of migrants' rights. Crucially, it does not merely diagnose the causes of restrictions of migrants' rights, but also proposes how the law might be used as a solution. In this volume, the law is considered as both a source of resilience and part of the problem at three distinct levels: the legal-theoretical, the European, and the national level. It is a major contribution to the literature on migrants' rights, offering a nuanced account of how legal resilience might be used to safeguard migrants' rights against further erosion in populist times. This book is available as Open Access.

SFDI: Migrations et droit international

The Société française pour le Droit International has published Migrations et droit international (Pedone 2022). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Réunissant les contributions d’universitaires français et étrangers, ainsi que de professionnels, cet ouvrage issu du Colloque SFDI/RefWar 2021 interroge tant les régimes conventionnels existants que les enjeux actuels et à venir du droit international des migrations, et célèbre également les 70 ans de la Convention de Genève de 1951 à travers l’étude de ses principales stipulations et de l’évolution de leur interprétation au fil des années.

Conference: Migration and Asylum Policy Systems: The Way Forward

On May 19-20, 2022, the Final Conference of the EU sponsored "Migration and Asylum Policy Systems" (MAPS) – Project will take place in Naples. The conference is open to the public. Free registration is possible until May 12 at: [email protected] (specify if you intend to participate in presence or remotely). The program is here.

Hoffmann: Illegal Legality and the Façade of Good Faith – Migration and Law in Populist Hungary

Tamás Hoffmann (Corvinus Univ.) has posted Illegal Legality and the Façade of Good Faith – Migration and Law in Populist Hungary (Review of Central and East European Law, Vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 139-165, 2022). Here's the abstract:

Hungarian migration regulation has undergone a radical transformation since 2015, resulting in a system that essentially deprives asylum seekers of any international protection. This was a strategic move by the government to portray itself as the defender of Hungary and even Europe of the menace of uncontrolled migration. This article critically analyzes this transformation by first giving a comprehensive account of the major legislative changes and showing how they were framed to boost the populist political propaganda of the government. Then it argues that even though such populist legalism is in clear contravention of Hungary’s international legal obligations and thus constitute bad faith action, the European Union is still powerless to effectively oppose these measures since its own asylum policies are aimed at maintaining “Fortress Europe”, i.e. restricting irregular migration as much as possible through legal and informal measures. In conclusion, the only real antidote to populist legalism would be acting in good faith.

Call for Applications: Young Scholars Workshop on Access to the Labour Market as a Vehicle of Integration for Migrants

A call for applications has been issued for the 2022 EULab Young Scholars Workshop on Access to the Labour Market as a Vehicle of Integration for Migrants, to be held June 27, 2022. The call is here.

Staiano & Ciliberto: Labour Migration in the Time of Covid-19: Inequalities and Perspectives for Change

Fulvia Staiano (Giustino Fortunato Univ. - Law) & Giulia Ciliberto (CNR-IRISS) have published Labour Migration in the Time of Covid-19: Inequalities and Perspectives for Change (CNR Edizioni 2021). The book is available open access. Here's the abstract:

This timely volume offers a wide and in-depth analysis of the consequences that migrant workers are facing in these days: as a vulnerable group, they have to cope with an unpredictable and exceptional situation – COVID-19 pandemics – adding elements of weakness to their already fragile state.

Conference: Teaching Migration and Asylum Law and Policy

On January 18, 2022, the University of Innsbruck will host an online conference on "Teaching Migration and Asylum Law and Policy." Details are here.

Macklin: Exit Rights, Seamless Borders and the New Nation-State Container

Audrey Macklin (Univ. of Toronto - Law) has posted Exit Rights, Seamless Borders and the New Nation-State Container (International Migration, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Enlisting states of origin or transit to prevent exit from their own territory has become a tool of extraterritorial migration control for states of the global North. Violeta Moreno-Lax and Mariagiulia Giuffré (2019) dub this trend ‘consensual containment.’ I view it as the harbinger of a loosely networked global migration regime for governing the circulation of people. This article first explores the practical erosion of the right of exit since the demise of communism. Next, I turn to the legitimating function performed by anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling campaigns in reframing breaches of exit rights as an exercise of the cynical practice now dubbed ‘penal humanitarianism’. I conclude by querying whether a paradigm of mobility organized around entry and exit is veering toward obsolescence. Current trends, particularly in relation to securitization of migration, push the logic of migration governance beyond obstructing exit and preventing entry as ends in themselves. I suggest that the logic is increasingly directed more at assuming control over movement as such. Against the contemporary claim of increased global mobility for some and decreased mobility for others, I contend that mobility - understood as the capacity for 'free movement' - is on the decline for everyone, even if actual movement by some is on the increase.

Call for Papers: Challenges and Trends on Migration

IFIM Law School, in collaboration with Centre for Peace Studies, Bangladesh, has issued a call for papers for an online conference on "Challenges and Trends on Migration." The call is here.

Event: EU Pact on Migration and Asylum: Conversation with European Commission Vice President Schinas

On April 22, 2021, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host online "EU Pact on Migration and Asylum: Conversation with European Commission Vice President Schinas." This event is co-sponsored by the War Crimes Research Group in the Department of War Studies and the Society, Culture and Law Research Theme in the School of Security Studies, King's College London. Detaisl and registration are here.