Wed 04 Dec 2024, 5-6pm. Please click here to join.
This seminar is hosted by the College of Law, Social & Criminal Justice Research Seminar Series. Our series offers exciting insights into ongoing research projects within the law school and conducted by our external research partners. We often feature work from our research centres. Join us for invigorating discussion!
In this session, we hear from Dr Brian Ikejiaku. Brian is Associate Professor of Law and an expert in the field of international law (public international law, international law & development, and International human rights law). Brian has published and been cited widely in the field of international law. His work has made impact in society including UNESCO, ADB, and LDi. His recent interdisciplinary edited book (2024) was published by Routledge.
In this session, Dr Ikejiaku will give the following presentation, followed by an interactive Q&A:
Title: Migration and Human Trafficking in Europe: The Role of International Law in Protecting Public Good by Addressing the Challenges
Abstract:
This session proffers that international law has important role to play in protecting public good, by ensuring that EU instead of initiating measure merely to deter migration to Europe, must focus on positive-migration policies that benefits the host and home countries through cooperative rebuilding, broad-based human-development, integration of migrants, and most crucially complying with relevant international legal covenants. As the number of displaced persons seeking refuge has been increasing in recent time and has reached unprecedented numbers, States have resorted to measures to circumvent their obligations under the Convention.
These range from bilateral agreements condemning refugees to their vessels at sea to the excision of certain territories from national jurisdiction. While socio-economic developments and the rise of the worldwide web have led to deterritorialization of vast domains of the economy and the media which enable them to escape from state control, territorial presence, whether on terra firma or on vessels at sea which are functional surrogates for territorial sovereignty, continues to be the basis for the entitlement to human and citizens’ rights. We are facing a dual movement of deterritorialization and territorialization at once, both of which threaten the end of the 1951 Convention. The research of the view that if all States would observe the provisions of the Convention that protect these rights, the situation of many refugees would be better.
This session draws on public international law and international development law in the light of human rights-based approach (HRBA), interdisciplinary and critical-analytical perspective and using qualitative empirical evidence from Europe and developing countries for analysis. The target is to publish one high quality paper on this theme, Dr Ijekiaku intends to submit the manuscript to the Leiden Journal of International Law, which has indicated interest to review and consider for publication a manuscript on this theme.
If you have any questions, contact Mitchell Longan, the Research Seminar Series leader, at mitchell.longan@bcu.ac.uk.