Migration and refugees: applying human rights to ‘everyone’?

2020 ◽  
pp. 129-140
Author(s):  
Michal Cenker ◽  
Daniel Holder
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Migrant Worker ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Convention ◽  
International Human ◽  
Prejudicial Attitudes ◽  
To Receive

Chapter 10 critically assesses the role of international human rights protections in promoting the rights of migrants and refugees in the context of globalisation, continuing global socio-economic inequalities and global conflict. While the whole concept of human rights rests on humanitarianism and not citizenship, international human rights mechanisms, such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), have often allowed states to apply restricted rights to non-citizens and while the UN Migrant Worker Convention exists, it remains the only core UN human rights instrument not to receive widespread ratification. This chapter discusses some of the issues which prevent the establishment of universal human rights protections for migrants and refugees, and how such protections have often been limited by a range of economic, political and security considerations along with prejudicial attitudes in potential host countries.

‘Past’ Violations under International Human Rights Law: The Indigenous ‘Stolen Generation’ in Australia

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-272
Author(s):  
Maria O'Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Convention ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Government

This article examines the debate relating to reparations for ‘past’ human rights violations, with particular focus on the case of the indigenous ‘Stolen Generation’ in Australia. The ‘Stolen Generation’ is a term used to describe the government-sanctioned practice of forced removals of part-Aboriginal children from their indigenous parents and placement into non-indigenous institutions and homes, which occurred in Australia from approximately 1910–1970. The ‘Stolen Generation’ violations present a unique and difficult legal question for international human rights law because they straddle the divide between ‘historic’ violations and contemporary acts, that is, they were committed by Australia after Australia signed key agreements such as the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, but prior to its ratification of international human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This means that bringing a claim under international human rights law in relation to the violations raises a number of problems. The object of this article will be to explore whether Australia can be held responsible under international human rights law for the ‘Stolen Generation’ violations and possible avenues of redress. In this regard, the focus of the article will be on the possible claims victims could make to relevant treaty monitoring bodies and the types of obstacles they would face in doing so. These legal questions are also relevant to the wider debate that is taking place in relation to reparations, namely the extent to which a State can be held legally responsible to provide reparations for past violations.

The Influence of the Two Covenants on States Parties Across Regions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Besson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Domestic Institutions ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
The Third ◽  
International Human ◽  
Domestic Influence ◽  
Domestic Law

As a companion to the five regional reports in this volume, this chapter’s aim is a double one: first, to bring the comparison up to the regional level, and second, to analyse the international and domestic institutions, procedures, and mechanisms that affect how international human rights instruments influence domestic law. The chapter is therefore both a study in comparative international human rights law and a contribution to its methodology. Its structure is four-pronged. The first section clarifies the aim, object, and method of the comparison. The second section presents a comparative assessment of the Covenants’ domestic influence across regions and develops a grid of comparative analysis. The third section addresses the authority of the Committees’ interpretations of the Covenants, relying on a bottom-up comparative law argument. The fourth section discusses the role of human rights comparison and of regional human rights law in enhancing the legitimacy of the Committees’ future interpretations.

The Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers: Unfinished Business

1993 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ved P. Nanda
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
International Regime ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Convention ◽  
International Human

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families reflects a compromise between guaranteeing migrants international human rights and acknowledging state sovereignty. Notwithstanding a laudable attempt to provide in the Convention a comprehensive international regime for the protection of the migrant workers, the Convention is not an unmixed blessing. To illustrate, while the Convention creates new rights, it also limits some rights migrant workers already had under existing international human rights instruments. Also, the Convention's terminology and language suffer from ambiguities and are likely to cause uncertainty due to varying interpretations.

The role of international human rights organisations in the context of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-31
Author(s):  
Nina I. Karpachova
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
International Human

The task of this paper is to study the role of international human rights organizations in response to the conflict taking place in eastern Ukraine. The study is based on recent reports from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the OSCE on Ukraine. The relevance of the stated topic is determined by the situation with human rights violations in the armed conflict in Ukraine and the significant role of international human rights organizations, making active efforts to resolve it. The purpose of this study is to determine the main aspects of the role that international organizations play in resolving this range of issues. This will help to identify potential opportunities to tackle the problem with human rights violations in the Ukrainian territories. The study combines quantitative and qualitative research of the entire spectrum of issues brought into the subject. The main results obtained are: analysis of the role and place of international human rights organizations in assessing the situation with the conflict in the Ukrainian territories and obtaining statistical information on the current status of human rights violations in these territories. The value of this paper lies in obtaining practical recommendations for finding ways to peacefully resolve the conflict in the East of Ukraine and implementing comprehensive measures to create conditions for the protection of human rights in this region

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