Troubled waters in the Mare Nostrum: The 'push-back' of migrants from Africa and the European Convention on Human Rights

Silvia Borelli

Business & Management Research Institute (BMRI)

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Abstract

The practice of ‘push-backs’ in the Mediterranean Sea, in which boats carrying migrants are intercepted and forced to return to the State from which they departed (or from which they are presumed to have departed) raises serious issues from the perspective of international human rights law. In the wake of the spate of recent tragedies, in which innocent women, children and men attempting to traverse the Mediterranean in order to reach European shores have lost their lives, States and European institutions are finally responding to these issues. The present piece explores the legality of the practice of push backs under international human rights standards, particularly the ECHR, and offers an assessment of the ongoing developments within the European Union (in particular, the Draft Regulation relating to joint migration control operations at sea under the auspices of Frontex), which aim belatedly to ensure that migration control operations incorporate an element of protection of human life and other fundamental human rights.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 29-69

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Uluslararası Hukuk ve Politika (Issue 37)

Publication milestones

Published - 24/07/2012

Publication status

Published - 24/07/2012

ISSN

1305-5208

External Publication IDs

handle.net: 10547/235599