Due diligence in the protection of victims of trafficking: responding to the securitisation of migration
type: CreativeWork
description: The securitisation of migration by European States, where irregular migrants are seen as threats to the State’s border security, continues to have negative consequences for victims of human trafficking. Instruments such as the Dublin III Regulation, the ‘hotspot approach’ and detention and deportation have been used to deal with victims of trafficking. In addition, States like Greece and Italy have used the so-called pushbacks and pullbacks and inadequate provision of legal aid to impede victims’ access to the protection mechanisms existing in the State. These have received criticism from academic literature and practitioners, mainly because victims of trafficking face human rights abuses from State actors. Human rights scholars have also advocated for a rights-based approach in the anti-trafficking discourse, where putting victims’ rights at the centre of migration policies is key to their protection. However, one strong critique of emphasising that victims have rights is that enough attention is not paid to what States should be doing. Victims of trafficking do have rights like every other human being. States have positive obligations to protect those rights, and these obligations can be asserted against the State and not individual traffickers. As such, there should be an increased focus and pressure on States because they are under international obligations to protect victims of trafficking. In line with this, this thesis applies the concept of due diligence, which has been used concerning State obligations in public international law and international human rights law, to address the harmful State behaviour of securitising migration. Specifically, it uses due diligence to address detention and deportation; and pushbacks and pullbacks, including the lack of legal aid that impedes victims’ access to protection, even if protection mechanisms exist within the relevant State. There is limited academic literature concerning the use of due diligence in the obligation …
abstract: The securitisation of migration by European States, where irregular migrants are seen as threats to the State’s border security, continues to have negative consequences for victims of human trafficking. Instruments such as the Dublin III Regulation, the ‘hotspot approach’ and detention and deportation have been used to deal with victims of trafficking. In addition, States like Greece and Italy have used the so-called pushbacks and pullbacks and inadequate provision of legal aid to impede victims’ access to the protection mechanisms existing in the State. These have received criticism from academic literature and practitioners, mainly because victims of trafficking face human rights abuses from State actors. Human rights scholars have also advocated for a rights-based approach in the anti-trafficking discourse, where putting victims’ rights at the centre of migration policies is key to their protection. However, one strong critique of emphasising that victims have rights is that enough attention is not paid to what States should be doing. Victims of trafficking do have rights like every other human being. States have positive obligations to protect those rights, and these obligations can be asserted against the State and not individual traffickers. As such, there should be an increased focus and pressure on States because they are under international obligations to protect victims of trafficking. In line with this, this thesis applies the concept of due diligence, which has been used concerning State obligations in public international law and international human rights law, to address the harmful State behaviour of securitising migration. Specifically, it uses due diligence to address detention and deportation; and pushbacks and pullbacks, including the lack of legal aid that impedes victims’ access to protection, even if protection mechanisms exist within the relevant State. There is limited academic literature concerning the use of due diligence in the obligation …
author: Akingbade, Adedayo
language: eng
keywords: Due diligence, human trafficking, migration, securitisation, victim protection, detention, deportation, fragmentation, trafficking experience
date published: 2021-12
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:56:11Z
provider: Queen's University Belfast
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Queen's University Belfast