Lesson 5 Flashcards
Refugees and Migrants
1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees Article 33(1) and (2)
Prohibition of Refoulement
Rule: Refugees cannot be expelled or returned to territories where their life or freedom is at risk due to race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion.
Exception: This protection does not apply to refugees who pose a security threat or have been convicted of a serious crime.
ICCPR Article 6
Every human has right to life.
ICCPR Article 7
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
ICCPR Article 10
Humane Treatment: All detainees must be treated with humanity and respect for their dignity.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea art. 98
The duty to render assistance in maritime situation
International Maritime Organization (IMO), Guidelines on the Treatment of Persons Rescued at Sea Resolution MSC 167(78)
- Duty to Assist Individuals in Distress
- Duty to Respond to Collisions
- Duty to Coordinate Search and Rescue (SAR)
Copenhagen School five security sectors
- Economic
- Environmental
- Military
- Political
- Societal
Ralf Emmers
Non politcized
The state does not cope with the issue
The issue is not included in te public debate
Ralf Emmers
Politicized
The issue is managed within the political system.
Requires government decisions and allocation of resources.
Ralf Emmers
Securitized
The issue is framed as a security question thorugh the act of securitization.
The securitizing actor frames the already politicized issue as an existential threat to a referent object.
Art. 4 ICCPR: This article permits states to take measures that would otherwise violate certain obligations under the ICCPRm, as long as:
- Public emergency threatening the life of the nation.
- The measures are strictly necessary and proportionate to address the emergency.
- The measures are temporary and subject to review.
- The measures are not discriminatory.
- Certain rights (like the right to life and prohibition of torture) cannot be derogated under any circumstances.
Ralf Emmers
Succesful securitization
- Audience is convinced of the threat to the referent object (State securit, human security, environmental security)
Ralf Emmers
Referent oject
The objet’s safety that is threatened.
Human security (population, covid)
State security (External invasion of the state, or internal rebellion)
Environmental security (threatened by climate changes)
Ralf Emmers
Securitizing actor
The individual, group, or state that frames an issue as an existential threat.
Prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Ralf Emmers
Audience
The target group that the securitizing actor attempts to persuade.
Ralf Emmers
Speech act
A communication act that frames the threat to be existential so extraordinary measures can be used. Therefor the binding act between politicized and securitized,
Ralf Emmers
Extraordinary measures
Measures that goes beyond established rules and norms.
Ralf Emmers
Securitization example
War on drugs, Thailand , 2003.
Securitized the need for extraordinary measures t protect future generations.
Extraordinary measures: 2-3000 was killed, after ‘means nessecary’ had been used. Violates ICCPR art. 4 - which refers to art. 6, right to life.
Ralf Emmers
Failed securitization
US and Iraq 2003.
MDW - no evidence.
Referent Obejct: USA’s nationals and global seucirty.
Existential threat: Saddam Hussein’s alleged MDW program.
Fails: No evidence of MDW, undermining justification for the intervention.
No long-term acceptance of the securitization.
Ralf Emmers
Asylum seekers from victims to existential threat
Correlation with a masssive amount ofasylum seekers entering the EU from conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and other states in 2015-16.
Stimulaniously, EU experienced terror attacks in Paris (2015) and Brussels (2016).
Paris: Attackers had used false passports and posed as asylum seekers.
Sarah Léonard & Christian Kaunert
Frontex
Frontex, officially known as the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, is an EU agency tasked with managing the external borders of the European Union and the Schengen Area.
It plays a significant role in ensuring the security and proper functioning of EU border policies.
Sarah Léonard & Christian Kaunert
Refugee Convention
1951, overseen and managed by the office of the United Nations High Commissio for Refugees.
* Defines who qualifies as a refugee and their rights.
* Establishes the principle of non-refoulement (prohibition of returning refugees to places where they face harm)
Art. 1
Art. Non-discrimination
Art. 33 (includes people in distress at sea)
Mourad, Lama and Kelsey P Norman. “Transforming refugees into migrants: institutional change and the politics of international protection.”
Refugee term legally
Legally, the term refugee is reserved for individuals who
are officially recognized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees or a host state government as having fled from their home country for reasons specified in the Convention, and who thus deserve international protection.
Art. 1
Mourad, Lama and Kelsey P Norman. “Transforming refugees into migrants: institutional change and the politics of international protection.”
International refugee regime
The legal framework, institutions and practices desgined to address the protection and assistance of refugees.
Alice Edwards, International Refugee Law
General Refugee Status Cessation
Circumstances lead to flight doesn’t exisit anymore
Assesment of the human rights conditions are a crucial factor before giving general cessation.
Alice Edwards, International Refugee Law
Non-Refoulement
Purpose: Protects individuals from being transferred or removed from a state’s jurisdiction or control when there is a risk of persecution, torture, or serious human rights violations upon return.
Legal Basis:
International Treaties:
Convention Against Torture (CAT). art 3
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED).
Regional Instruments:
Inter-American
The main sources of fundamental rights in the EU legal order
Treaty provision:
1. Treaty on Europea Union
2. Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
International Law:
3. Human rights treaties and customary international law
4. Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) Binding,
Violeta Moreno-Lax, Accessing Asylum in Europe: Extraterritorial Boarder Controls and Refugee Rights Under EU Law
The CFR seeks to be consistent with the ECHR, ensuring that the level of protection is at least as high.
It ensures that the CFR does not restrict or adversely affect human rights recognized in other instruments.
Violeta Moreno-Lax, Accessing Asylum in Europe: Extraterritorial Boarder Controls and Refugee Rights Under EU Law
London Protocol 1967
The 1967 Protocol removed the Refugee Convention’s temporal and geographical
restrictions so that the Convention would apply universally.
Art. 1. Says that countries that ratify it agree to abide by the Refugee Convention as well – even if they are not a party to it.
Refugee definition
Refugee Convention 1951 article 1(2).
Principle of non-discrimination
Refugee convention article 3.
Subjected to unequal treatment based on specific prohibited grounds, such as race, religion, gender, or nationality.
Principle: Outlined in different frameworks.
2015-2016 asylum crisis
Increased terror attacks
Made EU scared of terrorists in the group of asylum seekers
Far-right parties seized on the issue, linking refugees with terrorism
Securitization
Extraordinary measures:
* Reinforce border controls, including strengthening the role of Frontex, the European Border
* hotspot approach was developed, which involves the identification, registration, and fingerprinting of incoming migrants, with the aim of distinguishing between those in need of international protection and those who may represent a threat
* Additional security checks Even when asylum-seekers were accepted under relocation programs, some EU Member States carried out their own additional security checks
Leonard and Kaunert, refugee flow
Violeta Moreno-Lax
Accessing Asylum seekers take away
FRONTEX (European Border and Coast Guard Agency):
Primary Goal: To manage and secure the EU’s external borders
SAR: Explicit, Searcha and Rescue team: humanitarian operation focused on saving lives at sea
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights:
