scholarly journals Migrants in the Attic: The Case of Migrants with Disabilities and Resettlement Services in Serbia

Laws ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Joel John Badali
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
The State ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Settlement Services ◽  
Balkan Region

The global migrant crisis triggered an unprecedented number of asylum seekers in the Balkan region. In this case study, the state of migrants with disabilities—a community notoriously overlooked during global conflict—is explored through field interviews of settlement service providers in Serbia. A human rights framework is espoused in first examining contemporary refugee law discourse and the corresponding gaps in current resettlement practice of migrants with disabilities. The study’s findings illuminate the need for a drastic shift in settlement services for those migrants most vulnerable to persecution in de facto destination countries. The discussion takes aim at “humanitarian silo” funding models and argues for international cooperation and transparency in accommodating migrants with disabilities internationally.

scholarly journals The Transfer of Asylum Seekers in Australia to Third Countries: A Case Study of Sovereignty versus International Law

2013 ◽  
pp. 187-196
Author(s):  
Hugh S. Tuckfield
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Refugee Convention ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
The Cost ◽  
International Conventions

Asylum is an issue equally central to refugee law and human rights. Generally, they are protected under the 1951 Refugee Convention, but asylum cases are largely state regulated affair, subject to state legislations, policies and guidelines, which certainly do not preclude the applicability of international obligations directing the conduct of state towards the asylum seekers, which emanate from the recognized international human rights principles such as right to seek asylum and right against refoulement and right not to be arbitrarily detained. Contracting parties to international conventions such as the 1951 Refugee Convention, ICCPR, ISESCR, CAT, CRC, CEDAW and CERD among others acquire the responsibility to respect, protect and fulfill the obligations adducible in treatment of asylum seekers. In this regard, Australia was one of the earliest state parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and is also a party to the relevant human rights treaties. However, it is determined to adhere to its conventional understanding of sovereignty and nationalism, at the cost of comprising the minimum protection of the rights of those who seek asylum in it.

scholarly journals Un-signing Geneva: legal pragmatics in the management of asylum

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc de Leeuw ◽  
Sonja van Wichelen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
The State ◽  
Late Modernity ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
International Refugee Law

AbstractIn the last decade, several states have increasingly tried to ‘un-sign’ to their humanitarian obligations by seeking ways to circumvent European or international law. Through an analysis of a recently passed act in Australia on the management of asylum seekers, this paper examines how the practice of ‘un-signing’ can be seen as a symptomatic instance of reconfiguring asylum in late modernity. We focus on the proliferation of ‘legal pragmatics’ in the management of refugees. By ‘legal pragmatics’, we refer to theprocessualways in which the state attempts to hollow out international refugee law and in which courts respond by reinstating it. Normative consequences are thecriminalisationand thejuridificationof refugees. We argue that the proliferation of ‘legal pragmatics’ illuminates not only the ever-expanding reach of neoliberal changes in domestic legislation, but also the limitations of human rights to adequately respond to the neoliberal vicissitudes of humanitarian government.

Articulating key obligations of states to persons deprived of liberty under a right to health framework: the Philippine case study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Edson P. Yarcia ◽  
Jan Michael Alexandre C. Bernadas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Right

Purpose This paper aims to examine key obligations of states to persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) under the right to health framework in the context of COVID-19. As a case study, it also describes the state of health in places of detention in the Philippines during the pandemic, with an end view of providing granular recommendations for prison policy reforms. Design/methodology/approach Relevant rules under international human rights law related to places of detention were thematically analyzed to articulate the scope of the right to health of PDLs. To describe the state of places of detention in the Philippines, this paper relied on archival research of news from selected local mainstream and specialized media. Findings The right to health framework provides a foundation for the response to COVID-19 in places of detention. Key concerns include increase in the number of infections, vulnerabilities in physical and mental health, and the spread of infection among correctional staff. Long-standing structural constraints and limited health information compound the threat of COVID-19. The Philippines must comply with its human rights obligations to PDLs to effectively address COVID-19-related concerns. Practical implications Policy reforms in Philippine places of detention must include application of community standards on physical and mental health, implementation of emergency release and application of non-custodial measures for long-term prison decongestion. Originality/value This is one of the few papers to analyze human rights in health care in places of detention during a pandemic, as nuanced in the context of the Philippines.

Legislative discrepancies: an analysis of Missouri’s current human trafficking laws and the need to improve its legal protection of victims

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-158
Author(s):  
Rachel Kappler ◽  
Arduizur Carli Richie-Zavaleta
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Safe Harbor ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa

Purpose Human trafficking (HT) is a local, national and international problem with a range of human rights, public health and policy implications. Victims of HT face atrocious abuses that negatively impact their health outcomes. When a state lacks protective laws, such as Safe Harbor laws, victims of HT tend to be seen as criminals. This paper aims to highlight the legal present gaps within Missouri’s anti-trafficking legislation and delineates recommendations for the legal protection of victims of HT and betterment of services needed for their reintegration and healing. Design/methodology/approach This case-study is based on a policy analysis of current Missouri’s HT laws. This analysis was conducted through examining current rankings systems created by nationally and internationally recognized non-governmental organizations as well as governmental reports. Additionally, other state’s best practice and law passage of Safe Harbor legislations were examined. The recommendations were based on human rights and public health frameworks. Findings Missouri is a state that has yet to upgrade its laws lately to reflect Safe Harbor laws. Constant upgrades and evaluations of current efforts are necessary to protect and address HT at the state and local levels. Public health and human rights principles can assist in the upgrading of current laws as well as other states’ best-practice and integration of protective legislation and diversion programs to both youth and adult victims of HT. Research limitations/implications Laws are continually being updated at the state level; therefore, there might be some upgrades that have taken place after the analysis of this case study was conducted. Also, the findings and recommendations of this case study are limited to countries that are similar to the USA in terms of the state-level autonomy to pass laws independently from federal law. Practical implications If Safe Harbor laws are well designed, they have greater potential to protect, support and assist victims of HT in their process from victimization into survivorship as well as to paving the way for societal reintegration. The creation and enforcement of Safe Harbor laws is a way to ensure the decriminalization process. Additionally, this legal protection also ensures that the universal human rights of victims are protected. Consequently, these legal processes and updates could assist in creating healthier communities in the long run in the USA and around the world. Social implications From a public health and human rights perspectives, communities in the USA and around the world cannot provide complete protection to victims of HT until their anti-trafficking laws reflect Safe Harbor laws. Originality/value This case study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is a unique analysis that dismantles the discrepancies of Missouri’s current HT laws. This work is valuable to those who create policies at the state level and advocate for the protection of victims and anti-trafficking efforts.

‘Coercive confinement’: An idea whose time has come?

Incarceration ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 263266632093644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian O’Donnell ◽  
Eoin O’Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
The State ◽  
Carceral State ◽  
National Programme

This article argues in favour of ‘coercive confinement’ as a useful addition to the criminological lexicon. It suggests that to properly understand a country’s level of punitiveness requires consideration of a range of institutions that fall outside the remit of the formal criminal justice system. It also requires a generous longitudinal focus. Using Ireland as a case study, such an approach reveals that since the foundation of the state, the prison has gradually become ascendant. This might be read to imply a punitive turn. But when a broader view is taken to include involuntary detention in psychiatric hospitals, confinement in Magdalen homes and mother and baby homes, and detention in industrial and reformatory schools, the trajectory is strongly downward. This might be read to imply a national programme of decarceration. (In recent years, asylum seekers have been held in congregate settings that are experienced as prison-like and they must be factored into the analysis.) While some of these institutions may have been used with peculiar enthusiasm in Ireland, none are Irish inventions. It would be profitable to extend the idea of ‘coercive confinement’ to other nations with a view to adding some necessary nuance to our understanding of the reach and grip of the carceral state.

A Clash of Legal Norms

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Seth Tweneboah
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Political Modernization ◽  
Continued Use

This paper explores the reasons for proscribed sanctions and their effects on contemporary Ghana. I contend that the sacred office of the Ghanaian chief, which is legitimated by spiritual and legal norms, plays an ambivalent role in Ghana’s legal and political modernization. Using banishment as a case study, the paper pays attentions to how the continued use of proscribed sanctions, among other chiefly actions, raises an ambivalent challenge to Ghana’s laws, its sovereignty, and its commitment to human rights. I propose actions that may aid the state in overcoming these challenges and successfully integrating modern norms with ancient traditional values.

scholarly journals Improvement of the system of social work through activation ombudsman

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-58
Author(s):  
Iryna Surovtseva
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
The State ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
The Right

The article is devoted to the partnership of social workers and ombudsmen as an influential tool for the citizens' rights protection. The common aspects of professional activity of social workers and ombudsmen in the citizens' rights protection of Ukraine and European countries are analyzed. Analyzed the annual reports of the National Ombudsman, clarified the dynamics of the receipt of citizens' reports about violations of their rights. There is a growing number of human rights violations in the field of social protection. The ombudsman has the right to make recommendations to the central executive bodies, which are ripe after the monitoring visits. Through the activities of social workers and the ombudsman, the state assumes the main functions of ensuring human rights in the social sphere. Foreign experience on the significant role of «natural allies» (social workers and ombudsmen) in drafting a formal protocol of strategic and tactical cooperation to optimize the residents' interests based on a friendly advisory approach have been highlighted. Most often, social workers and ombudsmen are forced to act as intermediaries between people and the state or other bodies to uphold justice and provide protection in cases where measures taken by the state in the interests of society as a whole threaten the rights and freedoms of individuals or groups. There is a need to intensify cooperation between the ombudsman's offices, social protection departments and social service providers (for example, through the joint Commissions on the quality of social services establishment, joint investigations into unsatisfactory social or medical care complaints). It seems relevant to expand the positions of specialized ombudsmen (for social protection (security), military ombudsman) as independent officials in communities (municipalities) for Ukraine.

scholarly journals Accessing the Border: The Mobility Rights of Asylum Seekers with Precarious Status

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Walcott
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
The State ◽  
Geographic Barriers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Territorial Boundaries ◽  
The Right ◽  
United Nation ◽  
International Refugee Regime

The mobility rights of migrants have been presented as universal and non-discriminatory in United Nation declarations, protocols and conventions. These inherent rights are often placed in opposition to states’ sovereign right to control their borders. The international refugee regime has faced challenges to the defence and advocacy of human rights. The right to seek asylum has faced questions of security, and terrorism. Politicians have successfully re-framed asylum seekers as active ‘threats’ to the social, cultural and economic security of the state and campaign to enforce the protection of the state. By de-linking the border from the territorial boundaries of the state, Canadian officials have excluded, deterred and halted the movement of asylum seekers seeking refuge in Canada, adding to the surmountable geographic barriers the state holds to resettlement.

The Case for the Constitutionalisation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCRs) in Botswana

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Botlhale
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Cultural Goods ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

Abstract This paper argues that there is no hierarchy in the importance attached to the different categories of human rights. Hence, Civil and Political Rights (CPRs) and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCRs) are both human rights and must be placed on the same pedestal. In a democracy, it is imperative that all rights be accorded equal treatment. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether Botswana accords equal treatment to the two categories of human rights. Using a case study approach, the paper concludes that while the Constitution of Botswana provides for CPRs, ESCRs are absent from this instrument. Consequently, the provision of economic, social, and cultural goods is policy-based. The paper argues that this raises accountability and justiciability challenges because the state cannot be sanctioned for failing to provide non-rights. It recommends the constitutionalisation of ESCRs to maximise the accountability and justiciability of ESCRs.

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