Abstract
To what extent and how do violations of the socio-economic rights of people on the move give rise to the international responsibility of states involved in cooperative migration control? This is the guiding question of Annick Pijnenburg's book, which is the impressive result of her PhD research. The study reflects deep discomfort regarding the fact that people on the move are left in dire conditions – often without adequate access to healthcare, education, social security or opportunities to work without being exploited. Pijnenburg explores possibilities to hold states responsible under international law, which she considers a prerequisite for accountability. As she herself underlines at the end of the book, further research is necessary to establish the accountability of states – and potentially also of non-state actors – in the context of cooperative migration control.
She covers a great variety of questions and broadens the horizon in an inspiring manner. Firstly, instead of limiting herself to refugees, she takes a broad view of people on the move, defining the term as persons who have left their country of origin – irrespective of their personal motives – but cannot reach states in the Global North, and are thus contained in the Global South, often with an irregular status. Secondly, she considers several cooperative migration control regimes, understood as the cooperation of at least two states with the aim to stop, or at least substantially reduce, migration flows. In doing so, she sheds light on the role of states in the Global South involved in migration control. This is an important benefit of her study, given that much more research has been done on the role of the states in the Global North and their attempts to curb migration. Thirdly, she considers the socio-economic rights to people on the move and thereby adds the aspect of migration/mobility to a body of research that has mainly addressed socio-economic rights in more stable contexts.
As a starting point to establish responsibility under international law, Pijnenburg draws on Art. 38(1) of the ICJ Statute and accordingly uses international conventions and judicial decisions, general principles, scholarship, and soft law as sources. Pijnenburg covers an impressive range of source material, that stands out as it goes beyond those sources readily accessible in English. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights plays an important role in her analysis, but she also considers a wide range of other international agreements. In addition, she examines regional human rights conventions (European Convention on Human Rights, American Convention on Human Rights and African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights) as well as the case law of the competent courts and committees. Other sources included in the study extend from material on general principles such as due diligence and causation to the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of states for International Wrongful Acts.
Based on those sources, Pijnenburg develops a three-step assessment to answer her guiding questions, namely, are there widespread violations of the socio-economic rights of people on the move in partner states in the Global South? Secondly, does a state's contribution to the violations in question amount to an internationally wrongful act? Thirdly, how does the responsibility of one state relate to that of other states?
Details on the conceptualisation of this three-step assessment, Pijnenburg's conclusion and many aspects that are to be considered when using this assessment are set out comprehensively throughout the chapters of the book. The great number of sources and the consideration of international as well as regional human rights law allow her to look beyond well-covered issues and to create an abstract three-step assessment that may be claimed to be universally applicable. The necessary sacrifice of some depth of analysis is occasionally regrettable. Despite the wide array of sources considered as well as the ambitious layout of her study, Pijnenburg creates a very well structured and accessible text. And even though the guiding question of the book has a significant moral dimension, Pijnenburg manages to retain focus on the legal framework and basis.
Ideally, the book should perhaps be read by policymakers framing cooperative migration control mechanisms. It is, nonetheless, a very informative and insightful read for anyone dealing with responsibility and accountability under international law, or with human rights law, migration law, socio-economic rights, legal theory and other related fields of interest and research.
Footnotes
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