The Respect for Fundamental Human Rights in the Fight against Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling across the Central Mediterranean Sea

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-118
Author(s):  
Laura Salvadego
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
Migrant Smuggling ◽  
Migration Control ◽  
Central Mediterranean Sea ◽  
International Responsibility ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis study analyzes counter-smuggling and counter-trafficking operations carried out in the Mediterranean, mainly focusing on the EU operations Sophia and Themis. The purpose is to assess a number of issues linked with naval operations from a human rights perspective. These issues include the applicable law, the exercise of criminal jurisdiction over smugglers and traffickers, national strategies of coastal States as regards migration control policy and, finally, international responsibility for human rights violations perpetrated in connection with these operations. Although the study is primarily aimed at both Ph.D students and legal scholars specialized in the field, it also seeks to provide insights that may be of guidance to NGOs, legal practitioners and legislators within the EU and its Member States.

scholarly journals ENFORCING JURISDICTION AGAINST VESSELS SUSPECTED OF MIGRANT SMUGGLING AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Fernando Alfaro Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South America ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Military Operation ◽  
Migrant Smuggling ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

Analysis of the results of EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia since the beginning of its activities in June 2015, aiming to assert the level of achievement of its goals and conclude whether the establishment of a military operation was the best option to tackle a humanitarian crisis, as well as what have been the outcomes of the Operation for migrant mobility and for the actors involved, in particular, to the European solidarity system. The overview of the data presented by EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia helps to draw considerations for the future of the EU when dealing with future similar crises, not only affecting Europe, but in any country taking in consideration the migratory exodus happening, for example in South America these days, and that may be extended internationally. Is in this cases, where people flee from their origin countries seeking for shelter, when we must be aware of the necessary guarantee of Human Rights.

What’s in a Name?

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Marika McAdam
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Migrant Smuggling

This article explores the challenges involved in differentiating between human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and their implications for human rights protection. Exploitation is dismissed as a hallmark of trafficking, with reference to situations of trafficking that occur without exploitation, and migrant smuggling that involves exploitation. The consent of smuggled migrants is similarly rejected as a signifier of smuggling, given the irrelevance of consent in human trafficking. Discussion of stigmatisation of migrants willing to migrant irregularly, and the simplification of their plight, leads to consideration of rights-based distinctions between the two phenomena. Assumptions made about the types of abuses that occur in trafficking and smuggling scenarios are explained as detracting from human rights protections of rights-holders. Ultimately, it is asserted that the labels of ‘trafficked’ and ‘smuggled’ should not be determined on the basis of human rights abuses, but should be confronted irrespective of which label has been allocated.

The EU in the Central Mediterranean: Impact and Implications of the Comprehensive Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Dura
Keyword(s):  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Joint Operation ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Military Operation ◽  
Migrant Smuggling ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The implications of the comprehensive approach to the EU refugee crisis are becoming apparent in the current actions of different players in the central Mediterranean, where a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) military operation is present alongside Frontex’s joint operation Triton. Both cooperate closely with Libyan border authorities and the European Migrant Smuggling Centre of Europol. But this not only poses humanitarian problems as to how the EU should cooperate on these matters with Libyan officials, it also leads to a confusing meddling of different EU actors from distinct policy areas in matters of crucial importance to the Union. Against this background, the article delineates the competences and powers of the different actors. Another issue is the role of the European Parliament in the situation: it has little influence in the CSDP but strong links to the agencies. In this context the article will discuss the influence of the cooperation on parliamentary accountability.

Italy’s New Migration Control Policy: Stemming the Flow of Migrants From Libya Without Regard for Their Human Rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 259-281
Author(s):  
Marina Mancini
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Italian Government ◽  
Migration Control

During 2017, the Italian Government adopted a series of controversial measures in order to stem the increasing flow of migrants from Libya, with the full backing of the European Union. The Memorandum of Understanding between Italy and the Libyan Government of National Accord of 2 February 2017 provided the legal basis for most of them. In actual fact, those measures rapidly led to a significant reduction in the number of migrants arriving in Italy, while increasing that of migrants intercepted at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard and transferred to the detention centres managed by the Libyan Department for Combatting Illegal Immigration. As a result, the already inhuman conditions of detention therein further worsened. This article investigates whether and to what extent Italy can be held responsible under international law for human rights violations against migrants on Libyan soil and, at the hands of the Libyan Coast Guard, at sea. It is submitted that, owing to the active support to the Libyan Coast Guard and the adoption of a code of conduct restricting NGOs’ search and rescue activities, Italy is complicit in violations of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment against migrants intercepted at sea and forcibly returned to Libya. It is also stressed that Italy would be responsible for directly violating the prohibition on torture and ill-treatment enshrined in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, if it were ascertained that Italian military personnel exercise de facto control over Libyan Coast Guard vessels transporting migrants back to Libyan territory. In the light of this, the author highlights the urgent need for the Italian Government to rethink its migration control policy, amending the said Memorandum of Understanding and modifying the aforementioned measures so as to prioritise the protection of migrants’ fundamental human rights.

EUNAVFOR MED: FIGHTING MIGRANT SMUGGLING UNDER UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 2240 (2015)

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-54
Author(s):  
Marco Gestri
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Migrant Smuggling ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
Human Tragedy ◽  
Management Operation ◽  
The Eu ◽  
High Seas

To face the extraordinary migration crisis and consequent human tragedy in the Mediterranean, the need has emerged to fight human smugglers and traffickers. The European Union (EU) has launched EUNAVFOR MED, a naval crisis management operation aiming to disrupt the business model of human smuggling in the Central Mediterranean. With Resolution 2240 of 9 October 2015, the UN Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, authorised the EU operation to undertake “all measures commensurate to the circumstances” in order to visit, seize, and dispose of vessels used by smugglers. The EU operation is currently limited to the high seas, yet its expansion into Libyan waters and territory is envisaged. This article discusses some issues arising from Resolution 2240 and its implementation by the EU, notably from the viewpoint of the international law of the sea, the rules governing the use of force and human rights law. Problems have also emerged as to the prosecution in Italy of the smugglers apprehended on the high seas. It is submitted that a number of issues have not been clarified by the legal texts adopted and that the action of the EU in this field is still ineffective and rather opaque.

Between Criminalization and Protection

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-82
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Militello ◽  
Alessandro Spena
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Criminal Organizations ◽  
Legal Perspective ◽  
Migrant Smuggling ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Oriented Approach

AbstractThis double issue is focused on migrant smuggling and human trafficking. Both subjects are mainly treated from an Italian perspective; however, since these crimes have a generally transnational character, the analysis also takes international (UN) and supranational (EU) measures into account. Moreover, in both parts, the legal perspective is supplemented by the phenomenological/criminological one (based on both media reports and judicial case-studies), so as to grasp the practical aspects emerging from the different ways in which migrant smuggling and human trafficking are de facto committed: in particular, the links between these two and other crimes are underscored, as well as the involvement of criminal organizations in their perpetration. Finally, both parts are driven by a human rights-oriented approach, which gives relevance to dignity of persons as a fundamental meta-value of our legal systems.

The Right to Seek – Revisited. On the UN Human Rights Declaration Article 14 and Access to Asylum Procedures in the EU

2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen ◽  
Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Migration Control ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis article compares the "right to seek and enjoy asylum" enshrined in Art. 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with the current EU policy developments to "externalize" or "extraterritorialise" migration control and refugee protection. Examining the genesis of Art. 14 during the negotiations of the Universal Declaration, it is argued that while Art. 14 clearly falls short of granting a substantive right to be granted asylum, its formulation was intended to maintain a procedural right – the right to an asylum process. While the Universal Declaration is not a legally binding instrument, going back to the fundamental norms expressed herein nonetheless provides an important starting point for evaluating current policies, especially in light of recent critiques against overly expansive interpretation of human rights law. As such, the article concludes that the current EU policies to shift migration control and refugee protection away from Europe in important respects contravenes "the right to seek asylum" as it was conceived exactly 60 years ago.

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