When humans become migrants

Episode fifteen: How the Inter-American Court takes a different approach to human rights

How does the approach of the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights compare to that of the European Court of Human Rights? We start exploring this question through two cases that involved Mexico and the US. Both cases gave rise to advisory opinions. In the first, the Inter-American Court explained how it thought human…

Episode fourteen: Treating nationals and non-nationals equally — a human rights duty

In this episode I discuss the way we currently allow nation states to treat nationals and non-nationals differently. [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/04/hrm14_treating_nationals_and_non-nationals_equally-12yunvo.mp3[/podcast] (If you have problems with the embedded player use this link to listen). Liberty and equality are the two key principles that underpin human rights law. Every human being should be free, every human being is…

Episode thirteen: All equals?

Would you say it should be acceptable to deny a legally settled foreign worker who has contributed to a national social security system the opportunity to draw on a pension fund simply because he is a foreigner? [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/04/hrm13_all_equals_gaygusuz-1o2zbzq.mp3[/podcast] (If you have problems with the embedded player use this link to listen). The European Court of…

Episode twelve: The optimist says the bottle is half-empty

You may wonder why I keep stressing the weaknesses of the Strasbourg case law rather than choosing to focus on its strengths. [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/03/hrm12_the_optimist_says_the_bottle_is_half-empty-13nggrc.mp3[/podcast] (If you have problems with the embedded player use this link to listen). In a nutshell, this is because I want a strong European Court of Human Rights, a court that is…

Episode eleven: Tamils being returned to civil war

In this episode I look at another landmark human rights case from the late 1980s/early 1990s. [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/03/hrm11_tamils_being_returned_to_civil_war-28deaz6.mp3[/podcast] (If you have problems with the embedded player use this link to listen). Vilvarajah v. the United Kingdom concerned five Tamil young men whose asylum application was rejected and who were returned to the Sri Lankan conflict. Their…

Episode ten: Who was Soering?

How does the European Court on Human Rights respond to applicants who claim they cannot be sent to another country because, once there, they would face inhuman treatment? [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/03/hrm10_who_was_soering-21dhn55.mp3[/podcast] No-one can be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This is inscribed in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights….

Episode nine: When my father’s family fled their home

What you would you do if you and your loved ones were at risk? [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/03/hrm9_when_my_fathers_family_fled_their_home-2bhlu51.mp3[/podcast] In this episode I recall some of the stories of migration that I grew up with as a child in Belgium. In 1940, my father’s family, which included 10 children, felt they had no choice but to flee their home…

Episode eight: The inconsistent success of migrant human rights cases in the 1990s

In this episode I discuss how the growing success of some migrants at the European Court of Human Rights saw the emergence of a case law “lottery” in the 1990s. [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/03/hrm8_the_inconsistent_success_of_migrant_human_rights_cases_in_the_1990s-1cmz8or.mp3[/podcast] We consider the case of Berrehab about a Moroccan man who was married to a Dutch woman and who lived in the Netherlands. When…

Episode seven: Strasbourg wakes up to the predicament of migrants

In this episode I discuss the moment when migrants began to be able to make successful applications to the European Court of Human Rights. [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/02/hrm7_1983_strasbourg_wakes_up_to_the_predicament_of_migrants-o9l3eg.mp3[/podcast] After the Court system was set up in 1959, there were many applications from migrants, but they were either ruled inadmissible or ended on friendly settlements. The Court did not…

Episode six: The different approach of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

In this episode, we turn to another system of human rights protection and see that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has made pronouncements which are intended to give rights to migrants. [podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/02/hrm6_the_inter-american_court_on_nationality-1oi78iu.mp3[/podcast] I examine what happened more than thirty years ago, when Costa Rica was facing an influx of refugees from war-thorn neighbouring Nicaragua….