Human Rights of Migrants: Challenges of the New Decade

This review summarizes main trends, issues, debates, actors and initiatives regarding recognition and extension of protection of the human rights of migrants. Its premise is that the rule of law and universal notions of human rights are essential foundations for democratic society and social peace. Evidence demonstrates that violations of migrants' human rights are so widespread and commonplace that they are a defining feature of international migration today. About 150 million persons live outside their countries; in many States, legal application of human rights norms to non‐citizens is inadequate or seriously deficient, especially regarding irregular migrants. Extensive hostility against, abuse of and violence towards migrants and other non‐nationals has become much more visible worldwide in recent years. Research, documentation and analysis of the character and extent of problems and of effective remedies remain minimal. Resistance to recognition of migrants' rights is bound up in exploitation of migrants in marginal, low status, inadequately regulated or illegal sectors of economic activity. Unauthorized migrants are often treated as a reserve of flexible labour, outside the protection of labour safety, health, minimum wage and other standards, and easily deportable. Evidence on globalization points to worsening migration pressures in many parts of the world. Processes integral to globalization have intensified disruptive effects of modernization and capitalist development, contributing to economic insecurity and displacement for many. Extension of principles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights culminated in the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. With little attention, progress in ratifications was very slow until two years ago. A global campaign revived attention; entry into force is likely in 2001. Comparative analysis notes that ILO migrant worker Conventions have generally achieved objectives but States have resisted adoption of any standards on treatment of non‐nationals. A counter‐offensive against human rights as universal, indivisible and inalienable underlies resistance to extension of human rights protection to migrants. A parallel trend is deliberate association of migration and migrants with criminality. Trafficking has emerged as a global theme contextualizing migration in a framework of combatting organized crime and criminality, subordinating human rights protections to control and anti‐crime measures. Intergovernmental cooperation on migration “management” is expanding rapidly, with functioning regional intergovernmental consultative processes in all regions, generally focused on strengthening inter‐state cooperation in controlling and preventing irregular migration through improved border controls, information sharing, return agreements and other measures. Efforts to defend human rights of migrants and combat xenophobia remain fragmented, limited in impact and starved of resources. Nonetheless, NGOs in all regions provide orientation, services and assistance to migrants, public education and advocating respect for migrants rights and dignity. Several international initiatives now highlight migrant protection concerns, notably the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants, the Global Campaign promoting the 1990 UN Convention, UN General Assembly proclamation of International Migrants Day, the 2001 World Conference Against Racism and Xenophobia, anti‐discrimination activity by ILO, and training by IOM. Suggestions to governments emphasize the need to define comprehensive, coordinated migration policy and practice based on economic, social and development concerns rather than reactive control measures to ensure beneficial migration, social harmony, and dignified treatment of nationals and non‐nationals. NGOs, businesses, trade unions, and religious groups are urged to advocate respect for international standards, professionalize services and capacities, take leadership in opposing xenophobic behaviour, and join international initiatives. Need for increased attention to migrants rights initiatives and inter‐agency cooperation by international organizations is also noted.     

The Role of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants

The position of Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants was established in 1999 by the Commission on Human Rights. During the short period since her appointment, the Special Rapporteur has directed her attention to examining ways and means to overcome obstacles impeding the full and effective protection of the human rights of migrants, and also examining difficulties for the return of migrants who are undocumented or in irregular situations. This schedule has involved visits to governments and the dissemination of information on the legal framework and aspects of the mandate designed to explain the complexity of migration. The Special Rapporteur calls for increased efforts to ensure success of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to be held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. She also encourages those governments which have not yet ratified the International Convention to take the necessary steps.     

Korean Migrants’ Transnational Activism in Australia: Collective Meaning Making around Human Rights

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Despite a growing evidence of transmigrants’ political activism, empirical research is still in its infancy. This...     

Refugees and Migrants, Migrants and Refugees. An Ethnological Approach

This essay addresses the cultural dimension of the concepts refugee and migrant in order to better define their practical validity and authenticity. Examples are drawn from doctoral research and field work with South-East Asian refugees both in camps and in France.     

城市新移民文化研究

作为一个文化群体的存在,"新移民"在文化上具有"山寨性"、"快餐性"、"开放性"等特征。这些特征既是他们"扎根城市生活"的生活写照,也显示了他们"永不言弃奋斗精神"之下潜伏着的集体张力。"新移民文化"在很大程度上再次点燃了城市的文化活力。"新移民文化"所拥有的现象特征与内生动力,显现出其所蕴含的城市革新力量与未来发展潜能。他们是推动中国城市化进程至关重要的一环,乃至成为整个中国未来现代化事业中值得信赖的有生力量。     

New Chinese Migrants in Italy

Italy joined the group of European nations with a positive migratory balance in 1980, but now the presence of an immigrant workforce is definitely embedded in the Italian development model. The shift from a net emigration to net immigration country occurred when the internal migration from southern Italy, which had provided the factories in northern Italy with the necessary manpower for their economic development, was coming to an end, and productive decentralization was beginning with the re‐emergence of small businesses. Twenty years later, small dynamic businesses that are mainly clustered in industrial districts specializing in local production are a distinctive feature of the Italian economy to the extent that among industrialized countries Italy counts the largest number of small businesses and the lowest number of employees per business (Accornero, 2000). Starting from the 1980s, opportunities for a low‐skilled labour force opened for new migrants mainly in these productive activities. In addition, throughout the 1980s and the 1990s niche opportunities for self‐employment in workshops producing for Italian suppliers were also appearing or expanding. Among other migrant groups arriving in Italy were those of Chinese origin. The crucial time for the recent migration flow from China to Italy — either directly or via other European countries, such as France and Holland — can be dated from the early 1980s. Since then, a succession of unskilled workers originating almost exclusively from the south‐eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang arrived in the country, after the family‐based chains of emigration that had almost come to a halt during the years of the Cultural Revolution had again been revitalized. The number of immigrants of Chinese origin has grown rapidly over the last 20 years, as has the number of businesses owned by the Chinese. By today, the Chinese migrant community shows the strongest entrepreneurial aptitude, and, according to recent national data, account for the largest number of small business owners among non‐European Union (EU) immigrants in Italy. Unlike the situation in most of the western European countries, such as Great Britain and the Netherlands, where the Chinese are active mainly in the catering service, in Italy their main areas of activity are the production of ready‐to‐wear garments, leather garments and bags, and woollen sweaters. Until recently, these seemed to be the only productive sectors open to Chinese immigrants. However, new trends are emerging in the employment patterns of the Chinese in Italy. The two most striking new features are the expansion from performing only simple manufacturing tasks for Italian suppliers to actually managing the entire productive process in the garment sector, and the growing employment in Italian firms, especially in the dynamic industrial districts where migrants of other origins were already working in large numbers.     

The New Chinese Migrants in France

Like the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, France is one of the major centres of Chinese migration in Europe. Chinese sojourners arrived in France at the beginning of the twentieth century and the 1911 census showed the presence of 238 Chinese in the country. From 1900 to World War I, this little community remained heterogeneous in its socio‐economic and professional composition (Archaimbault, 1952). Changes in this community occurred during World War I when the lack of labourers led the French Government to recruit 140,000 Chinese workers (Wou, 1939). The 2,000 to 4,000 Chinese who remained in France after the war constituted the basis of a Chinese community in France. In the 1920s, they were joined by some 2,000 student labourers (Wang, 2001; Bailey, 1988). From the 1920s to the 1940s, Zhejiang immigration in France rose until World War II and the rise of the communist party in China stopped the movement. Yet, Chinese immigration did not cease. Migrants of Chinese origin arrived essentially from the old French Indochina (Viet Nam‐Laos‐Cambodia) (Le, 1995). Immigration from these countries increased in the 1970s when different conflicts occurred. From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, France also saw the arrival, albeit in smaller numbers, of Chinese from Hong Kong and Taiwan, family members of citizens of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The new wave of Chinese migration from PRC started in the mid‐1980s and grew steadily until now, with some peaks, e.g. in the mid‐1990s. Recent fieldwork in France approached this community, in particular, those living in France with a precarious administrative status (asylum seekers or clandestine migrants). In general, the situation of the population covered by this fieldwork was still precarious. Although the paper does not include other categories such as students, entrepreneurs, or researchers, it is nevertheless possible to gather some details on the basis of French official data and reports. The following sections deal with the growing Chinese presence in France, and their precarious status. Most recent research tends to show a diversified Chinese migrant population profile; it also shows that they are still primarily active in the French ethnic Chinese market. In the initial stages of migration, the Chinese migrants continue to maintain links with China and sometimes with Chinese communities in Europe.     

“The EU Should Talk to Germany” Transnational Legal Consciousness as a Rights Claiming Tool among Undocumented Migrants

Migrants must often negotiate their rights while being hampered by their precarious resident status, within contexts where the overlap of migration, welfare, labour and gender regimes lead to incoherent and contradictory institutional set‐ups that hinder their claiming of rights. The analysis of the legal consciousness of undocumented migrants in Germany reveals a complex set of orientations. On some occasions they waive their rights, accepting lower working conditions in order not to lose their jobs – a finding that confirms existing research. At the same time, they also informally “enact” rights and access to institutions themselves. They appeal to the experiences of undocumented migrants with laws and access to social services in other countries. The finding of relatively widespread transnational legal consciousness adds a new dimension to the scholarship on migrant legal consciousness and claims‐making, which has hitherto portrayed undocumented migrants as living in a legal limbo between their countries of origin and destination.     

再建构社会网络与超大城市农民工的再迁移 ——基于对北京市农民工的调查

从社会个体目的性行动的视角,采用北京市农民工的调查数据,证实再建构社会网络的规模和结构都影响超大城市农民工的再迁移.在控制个体的社会人口学变量和社会经济变量的情况下,结果依然显示,农民工再建构社会网络的规模越大、弱关系成员比例越高,他们通过表达性行动和工具性行动能更好地维持既有的资源和获取更多的资源,因而再迁移的可能性更小.在当前农村剩余劳动力继续流向超大城市的背景下,超大城市要增加针对农民工的职业培训和社团活动参与的公共政策供给,并将廉租房等保障性住房有条件地向农民工开放.