The ECHR and the protection of irregular migrants in the social sphere

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Da Lomba, Sylvie (2015) The ECHR and the protection of irregular migrants in the social sphere. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 22 (1). pp. 39-67. (https://doi.org/10.1163/15718115-02201002)

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Abstract

For more than a decade, the Council of Europe has expressed deep concern over irregular migrants’ poor access to basic social rights. With this mind, I consider the extent to which the European Convention on Human Rights can contribute to protect irregular migrants in the social sphere. To this end, I consider the role of international supervisory bodies in social rights adjudication and discuss the suitability of international adjudication as a means to uphold irregular migrants’ social rights. Having reached the conclusion that international adjudication can help protect irregular migrants’ social rights, I examine the ‘social dimension’ of the European Convention on Human Rights and the significance that the European Court of Human Rights attaches to immigration status. I posit that the importance that the Court attaches to resource and immigration policy considerations in N v. United Kingdom significantly constrains the ability of the European Convention on Human Rights to afford irregular migrants protection in the social sphere.

ORCID iDs

Da Lomba, Sylvie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4163-1637;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)