Idil Atak

Global Migration Governance: Avoiding Commitments on Human Rights, Yet Tracing a Course for Cooperation

This article maps the global governance processes on migration and assesses whether the human rights of migrants are effectively included and mainstreamed therein. It is argued that the lack of a comprehensive framework for migration governance and the insufficient focus on the human rights dimension in migration management have led to serious human rights violations in the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers, and to a lack of oversight and accountability when these violations occur. The article commences with an examination of the legal and normative framework related to the three areas that have been the main objects of global migration governance: the refugee regime, international labour standards and transnational criminal law regarding human trafficking. It goes on to explore the complex institutional framework of global migration governance and how it has been mostly informal, ad hoc, non-binding and State-led. The article concludes with a discussion on the future perspectives for a human rights-centred approach in global migration governance. It is contended that there is a need to bring the migration dialogue inside the United Nations, as it already plays a key role in international cooperation, with human rights as one of its pillars.

National security, terrorism and the securitization of migration

1. Irregular migration, state sovereignty and the rule of law 75 Catherine Dauvergne 2. National security, terrorism and the securitization of migration 93 Idil Atak and François Crépeau 3. Extraterritorial migration control and the reach of human rights 113 Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen 4. Smuggling and trafficking of human beings 132 Ryszard Piotrowicz 5. The removal of irregular migrants in Europe and America 148 Stephen H. Legomsky

Book Review: Catherine Dauvergne, Humanitarianism, Identity, and Nation: Migration Laws in Canada and Australia. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2005. 248 pp. Paper:

In her new book, Catherine Dauvergne contributes to an understanding of “humanitarianism” in Australian and Canadian migration law. Dauvergne analyzes migration law as a site for the construction of national identities, comparing humanitarian and rights discourse in Australian and Canadian refugee admissions. The first part of the book adds to existing theory on liberalism and its role in shaping interactions between migration law and identity. The author draws attention to the consequences and limits of the liberal argument favouring “open borders” to the extent required by humanitarianism. The absence of a standard on the number of migrants a society must admit reinforces the dominant role of humanitarianism and of state sovereignty in theoretical discussions of migration. The second part of the book is a comparative analysis of national refugee processes in Canada and Australia with emphasis on the place of identity and humanitarianism in refugee status determination. The refugee process in both countries involves non-adversarial in-camera hearings in which identity and credibility are intertwined. Additionally, in both countries, the determination of refugee status carries out an “othering” function, constructing the refugee as a narrow legal category with specified borders. The notion of identity is significant in Dauvergne’s discussion of contrasting cultural, legal and political approaches to immigration in Australia and Canada. From a cultural point of view, she notes that the Australian government is often explicit about controlling migration, whereas Canadian law and rhetoric display a more generous mythology of nation. While Australia is more concerned with efficiency than the rights of outsiders, Canada is preoccupied with “fairness” in process. In Australia, humanitarianism is operative at regulatory and policy levels, rather than in legislation. However, Canadian immigration law mobilizes humanitarianism and compassion as both “duty” and grounds for appeal.