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External Migration Control Measures and Ill-Treatment of Migrant Women: On the Responsibility of the EU and the Member States Under the EU-Charter

Flood, Pelle LU (2022) LAGM01 20221
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Through the external dimension of the EU migration policy, the EU and its member states have increasingly employed externalization measures as a means of stemming the irregular migration flows that reach the external borders of the Union. The measures are characterized by domestic conduct with extraterritorial effect leading to increased migration control in the third countries targeted by these measures. Inevitably, the increase of migration control in third countries have an impact on the irregular migrants who origin from or transit through these countries, which in some cases may constitute human rights abuses. In light of this, this thesis examines whether positive obligations imposed by the EU-Charter are invokable against the EU or... (More)
Through the external dimension of the EU migration policy, the EU and its member states have increasingly employed externalization measures as a means of stemming the irregular migration flows that reach the external borders of the Union. The measures are characterized by domestic conduct with extraterritorial effect leading to increased migration control in the third countries targeted by these measures. Inevitably, the increase of migration control in third countries have an impact on the irregular migrants who origin from or transit through these countries, which in some cases may constitute human rights abuses. In light of this, this thesis examines whether positive obligations imposed by the EU-Charter are invokable against the EU or member states when conducting externalization measures which infringes on fundamental rights.
The contextual framework for the discussion of this thesis is the impact of externalization measures in third countries on migrating women’s right not to be subjected to ill-treatment. Within this, the thesis explores the possibilities of holding the EU or member states accountable for human rights violations in third countries as a result of migration control. The purpose is specifically to ascertain liability under the EU-Charter by employing a doctrinal legal research method to establish the scope of application of the instrument as well as the material scope of its prohibition on ill-treatment.
The thesis starts with providing an overview of the framework governing EU externalization measures and its implementation, along with an examination of the impact migration control has on the right not to be subjected to ill-treatment for migrating women. Having considered this, it finds that the scope of applicability of the EU-Charter is not limited by the extraterritoriality of the measures but may very well cover externalization measures such as the ones observed. However, this depends greatly on who the relevant actor of a measure is, as only EU bodies are bound by the instrument when conducting informal measures. Having found that definitional threshold of Article 4 of the Charter can be satisfied, the thesis examines the positive obligations pertaining to the Article and their potential application to externalization measures. It finds that to establish failure in fulfilling positive obligations, one is required to consider the knowledge about the risk of harm, the proximity of the conduct and the harm and the reasonableness of the measures considering equitable alternatives. Such potential reasonable alternative measures would be of particular interest for future research as the existence of such is a deciding factor in establishing whether externalization measures are in conformity with the provisions of the Charter. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Genom den externa dimensionen av EUs migrations policys har EU och medlemsstaterna alltmer börjat använda sig av externaliseringsåtgärder som ett sätt att få till bukt på de irreguljära migrationsströmmar som når unionens externa gränser. Åtgärderna är karaktäriserade av inhemska handlingar med extraterritoriella effekter vilka leder till ökad migrationskontroll i de tredjeländerna som åtgärderna riktas mot. Oundvikligen så påverkas även de irreguljära migranterna som befinner sig i dessa tredjeländer av den ökade migrationskontrollen, i vissa fall till en sådan grad att det utgör övergrepp mot deras mänskliga rättigheter. Med hänsyn till detta undersöker denna uppsats huruvida de positiva skyldigheterna som är förelagda av EU-stadgan är... (More)
Genom den externa dimensionen av EUs migrations policys har EU och medlemsstaterna alltmer börjat använda sig av externaliseringsåtgärder som ett sätt att få till bukt på de irreguljära migrationsströmmar som når unionens externa gränser. Åtgärderna är karaktäriserade av inhemska handlingar med extraterritoriella effekter vilka leder till ökad migrationskontroll i de tredjeländerna som åtgärderna riktas mot. Oundvikligen så påverkas även de irreguljära migranterna som befinner sig i dessa tredjeländer av den ökade migrationskontrollen, i vissa fall till en sådan grad att det utgör övergrepp mot deras mänskliga rättigheter. Med hänsyn till detta undersöker denna uppsats huruvida de positiva skyldigheterna som är förelagda av EU-stadgan är åberopbara mot EU eller medlemsstater när de vidtar externaliseringsåtgärder som kränker fundamentala rättigheter.
Det kontextuella ramverket för diskussionen av denna uppsats är påverkan av externaliseringsåtgärder i tredje länder på kvinnliga migranters rätt att inte bli utsatta för omänsklig eller förnedrande behandling. Inom detta ramverk utforskar uppsatsen möjligheterna att hålla EU eller medlemsstater ansvariga för överträdelser av mänskliga rättigheter i tredjeländer som en följd av migrationskontroll. Specifikt sett, är syftet med uppsatsen att fastställa ansvar under EU-stadgan genom att använda sig av en rättsdogmatisk forskningsmetod för att fastställa tillämpningsområdet av instrumentet, samt omfattningen av dess förbud mot omänsklig eller förnedrande behandling.
Uppsatsen börjar med en översikt över det ramverk som styr EUs externaliseringsåtgärder och deras implementering, tillsammans med en granskning av den påverkan migrationskontroll har på kvinnliga migranters rätt att inte bli utsatt för omänsklig eller förnedrande behandling. Med detta i åtanke finner uppsatsen vidare att EU-stadgans tillämpningsområde inte är begränsat av extraterritorialiteten hos åtgärderna, utan bör mycket väl kunna omfatta de externaliseringsåtgärder som har observerats. Detta beror emellertid i stort på vem den relevanta riktande aktören av en åtgärd är, eftersom endast EU-organ är bundna av instrumentet i de fall åtgärderna tas informellt. Efter att vidare ha funnit att definitionströskeln av Artikel 4 EU-stadgan kan nås undersöker uppsatsen de positiva skyldigheter tillhörande artikeln och deras potentiella tillämpning på externaliseringsåtgärder. För att fastställa en underlåtenhet att uppfylla de positiva skyldigheterna finner uppsatsen att det är nödvändigt att överväga kunskapen om risken för skada, adekvat kausalitet mellan handling och skada samt åtgärdens rimlighet i betraktande av likvärdiga alternativ. Sådana potentiella alternativa åtgärder skulle vara av särskilt intresse för framtida forskning, eftersom förekomsten av dessa, som samtidigt är rimliga, är en avgörande faktor för att fastställa huruvida externaliseringsåtgärder överensstämmer med EU-stadgans bestämmelser. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Flood, Pelle LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGM01 20221
year
type
M3 - Professional qualifications ( - 4 Years)
subject
keywords
EU Law, International Human Rights Law, Externalization, EU-Charter, Charter of Fundamental Rights, Migration, Ill-treatment
language
English
id
9083391
date added to LUP
2022-06-13 11:40:23
date last changed
2022-07-04 13:20:41
@misc{9083391,
  abstract     = {{Through the external dimension of the EU migration policy, the EU and its member states have increasingly employed externalization measures as a means of stemming the irregular migration flows that reach the external borders of the Union. The measures are characterized by domestic conduct with extraterritorial effect leading to increased migration control in the third countries targeted by these measures. Inevitably, the increase of migration control in third countries have an impact on the irregular migrants who origin from or transit through these countries, which in some cases may constitute human rights abuses. In light of this, this thesis examines whether positive obligations imposed by the EU-Charter are invokable against the EU or member states when conducting externalization measures which infringes on fundamental rights.
The contextual framework for the discussion of this thesis is the impact of externalization measures in third countries on migrating women’s right not to be subjected to ill-treatment. Within this, the thesis explores the possibilities of holding the EU or member states accountable for human rights violations in third countries as a result of migration control. The purpose is specifically to ascertain liability under the EU-Charter by employing a doctrinal legal research method to establish the scope of application of the instrument as well as the material scope of its prohibition on ill-treatment.
The thesis starts with providing an overview of the framework governing EU externalization measures and its implementation, along with an examination of the impact migration control has on the right not to be subjected to ill-treatment for migrating women. Having considered this, it finds that the scope of applicability of the EU-Charter is not limited by the extraterritoriality of the measures but may very well cover externalization measures such as the ones observed. However, this depends greatly on who the relevant actor of a measure is, as only EU bodies are bound by the instrument when conducting informal measures. Having found that definitional threshold of Article 4 of the Charter can be satisfied, the thesis examines the positive obligations pertaining to the Article and their potential application to externalization measures. It finds that to establish failure in fulfilling positive obligations, one is required to consider the knowledge about the risk of harm, the proximity of the conduct and the harm and the reasonableness of the measures considering equitable alternatives. Such potential reasonable alternative measures would be of particular interest for future research as the existence of such is a deciding factor in establishing whether externalization measures are in conformity with the provisions of the Charter.}},
  author       = {{Flood, Pelle}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{External Migration Control Measures and Ill-Treatment of Migrant Women: On the Responsibility of the EU and the Member States Under the EU-Charter}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}