Criminalization of Migration, The | McGill-Queen’s University Press

A comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and comparative evaluation of the criminalization of migration both within Canada and abroad.

With over 240 million migrants in the world, including over 65 million forced migrants and refugees, states have turned to draconian measures to stem the flow of irregular migration, including the criminalization of migration itself. Canada, perceived as a nation of immigrants and touted as one of the most generous countries in the world today for its reception of refugees, has not been immune from these practices.

This book examines "crimmigration" - the criminalization of migration - from national and comparative perspectives, drawing attention to the increasing use of criminal law measures, public policies, and practices that stigmatize or diminish the rights of forced migrants and refugees within a dominant public discourse that not only stereotypes and criminalizes but marginalizes forced migrants. Leading researchers, legal scholars, and practitioners provide in-depth analyses of theoretical concerns, legal and public policy dimensions, historic migration crises, and the current dynamics and future prospects of crimmigration. The editors situate each chapter within the existing migration literature and outline a way forward for the decriminalization of migration through the vigorous promotion and advancement of human rights.

Building on recent legal, policy, academic, and advocacy initiatives, The Criminalization of Migration maps how the predominant trend toward the criminalization of migration in Canada and abroad can be reversed for the benefit of all, especially those forced to migrate for the protection of their inherent human rights and dignity.

Details

Part of the McGill-Queen's Refugee and Forced Migration Studies Series (number 1 in series)

440 Pages, 6 x 9

ISBN 9780773554467

November 2018

Formats: Paperback, eBook

“While much has been written on crimmigration in various jurisdictions, such literature in the Canadian context remains limited. This collection of essays is impressive and topical, and features a number of prominent scholars and advocates in the field who speak to some of the most recent developments in Canada.” Sasha Baglay, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

“The Criminalization of Migration covers a broad range of issues, including the integration of criminal law into immigration control; the criminalization of targeted migrants and refugees in the dominant public discourse; the impact of crimmigration on refugees and other forced migrants; state responses to the migration “crises”; and proposals on migrant assistance and protection. For students of comparative migration studies … the book is particularly useful because it features contextual, in-depth comparative analyses of state responses to the recent “migration crisis” in Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and the United States.” Choice

"Horner makes some interesting parallels to the way that the Irish refugees were treated in the nineteenth century and the way refugees are treated today. In the three major port cities of the Atlantic of his study he shows how authorities attempted to use laws to criminalise the Irish refugees who had entered their jurisdictions, or even attempted to stop them from arriving. Horner's chapter is an excellent illustration of the importance of historical precedent to challenges faced today when it comes to the treatment of refugees." British Journal of Canadian Studies

Idil Atak is associate professor of criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University.

James C. Simeon is associate professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University.

Foreword: Protecting the Human Rights of Migrants as Part of a Long-Term Strategic Vision on Mobility and Diversity / vii
François Crépeau

Preface / xi
James C. Simeon and Idil Atak

INTRODUCTION

The Criminalization of Migration: Context and Consequences / 3
Idil Atak and James C. Simeon

PART ONE THE CRIMINALIZATION OF MIGRATION AND ITS INTENDED AND UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

1 The (Mis-)Uses of Analogy: Constructing and Challenging Crimmigration in Canada / 37
Graham Hudson

2 Treating the Symptom, Ignoring the Cause: Recent People- Smuggling Developments in Canada and Around the World / 71
Angus Grant

3 Anti-Trafficking and Exclusion: Reinforcing Canadian Boundaries through Human Rights Discourse / 92
Julie Kaye

PART TWO THE CRIMINALIZATION AND THE EXCLUSION OF REFUGEES IN CANADA AND ABROAD

4 Recent Jurisprudential Trends in the Interpretation of Complicity in Article 1F(a) Crimes / 119
Nancy Weisman

5 An Analysis of Post-Ezokola and JS Jurisprudence on Exclusion / 138
Lorne Waldman and Warda Shazadi Meighen

6 The Interpretation of Exclusion 1F(b) of the 1951 Refugee Convention Internationally and in Canada / 168
Joseph Rikhof

PART THREE CRIMMIGRATION RESPONSES TO “MIGRATION CRISES”: HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES

7 Attrition through Enforcement and the Deportations of Syrians from Jordan and Turkey / 193
Petra Molnar

8 Is the US Gaming Refugee Status for Central Americans? A Study of the Refugee Status Determination Process for Central American Women and Their Children / 226
Galya Ben-Arieh

9 A Population Takes Flight: The Irish Famine Migration in Boston, Montreal, and Liverpool, and the Politics of Marginalization and Criminalization / 257
Dan Horner

PART FOUR CRIMINALIZING REFUGEES AND OTHER FORCED MIGRANTS: CURRENT DYNAMICS, FUTURE CHALLENGES, AND PROSPECTS

10 Back to the Future: Shifts in Canadian Refugee Policy Over Four Decades / 283
Peter Goodspeed

11 Scoping the Range of Initiatives for Protecting the Employment and Labour Rights of Illegalized Migrants in Canada and Abroad / 313
Charity-Ann Hannan and Harald Bauder

12 Progress towards a Common European Asylum System? The Migration Crisis in Europe / 340
Judith Gleeson

CONCLUSIONS

Beyond Context and Consequences: Countering the “Criminalization of Migration” through the Promotion of the Human Rights of Migrants / 367
James C. Simeon and Idil Atak

Contributors / 399
Index / 405