The Intractable Refugee Gap in the Nordics: Can Human Rights Make a Difference? Phd Thesis, Middlesex University
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Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Mugalula, Joseph (2018) The intractable refugee gap in the Nordics: can human rights make a difference? PhD thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/24291/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy The Intractable Refugee Gap in the Nordics: Can Human Rights Make a Difference? Joseph Jesebiah Mugalula Student Number M00472654 A thesis submitted to Middlesex University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of PhD School of Law Middlesex University October 2017 I Abstract It is often postulated that third, faraway non-adjacent countries, the Nordics for example, collaborate with UNHCR, to permanently resettle a few refugees on a quota basis, as a ground to provide a durable solution to one of the most intractable refugee situations. Although, the decision is discretionary and benevolent, it is nonetheless grounded in international customary law since, normatively, refugees are to be protected from acts of persecution, scenes of desolation and other glaring human rights abuses, even by States which are yet to sign or formally ratify the Refugee Convention and the Refugee Protocol. The sought-after solution, however, often becomes a short-term palliative because, nearly half of the refugees partially, intermittently, or never participate in gainful employment. The act violates one of the most fundamental and internationally recognized right to work. Under similar circumstances, other social and economic rights are also violated because, human rights are universal, indivisible, and interdependent and interrelated. The violation results in the Refugee Gap, which calls for crafting remedies even when the causal linkages, the prima facie evidences, sound too remote from justiciability. This thesis approached the Gap using a novel method, by means of a multidisciplinary approach. It looked at the discrete events that cause and perpetuate the Gap, and how the natural consequences are captured and synthesized, using principles and norms developed from international human rights, regional as well as domestic jurisprudence. In the short-term, even when economic and social rights are fully respected at minimum level, the Gap is ineluctable because of refugees’ endogenous vulnerabilities. In the long-term, however, the Gap is symptomatic of the States’ partial failure to respect, protect, and fulfil, the ipso facto human rights obligations. Finally, the exogenous factors which refugees have no much control over, are so powerful, that crafting remedies becomes an intricate process. Therefore, the panacea to the Gap and the full realization of refugees’ right to work, inter alia, cannot be achieved without full commitment from authorities. II Acknowledgement First, I would like to deeply thank my supervisors: Professor William A Schabas and Doctor Erica Howard. Your suggestions and constructive advices are unparalleled. Further, your initial decision to accept me as one your doctoral students, deserves more credit. The team from Sheppard library and the Middlesex Research Degree Administrative Team too deserve their credit for their dedicated work. More thanks should go to Professors: Jan Frick and Giorgia Doná; and Dr. Maja Korac- Sanderson. Being my former lecturers as well referees is fully appreciated. I also thank Lånekkasen for the financial support. Four years of loan and scholarship is a rare chance, which many aspiring students will never be able to get. My extended appreciations go to Joella, Jether and Joan for accepting my absence for all this long. Without your endurance and perseverance, the journey might have been unwalkable, perhaps. Finally, on innumerable occasions, many people who have rendered me a hand. Although your names and institutions are not directly mentioned, you too deserve a big thank you. III Table of Contents Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ II Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................ III Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ IV Contents ......................................................................................................................................... IV Table of cases ................................................................................................................................... X The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ..................................................................................... X European Committee of Social Rights ..................................................................................................... X European Court of Justice (ECJ) ............................................................................................................. X International Court of Justice (ICJ) ....................................................................................................... XI Domestic Courts ..................................................................................................................................... XI Denmark ............................................................................................................................................................................ XI Finland .............................................................................................................................................................................. XI Norway .............................................................................................................................................................................. XI Sweden .............................................................................................................................................................................. XI Germany ........................................................................................................................................................................... XII United Kingdom ............................................................................................................................................................... XII United States of America ................................................................................................................................................. XII Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. XIII Chapter 1. The Refugee Gap ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................1 1.2 Background .........................................................................................................................................5 1.2.1 Short-term: endogenous causes ................................................................................................................................. 7 1.2.2 Long-term: exogenous causes ................................................................................................................................. 11 1.3 Gap in knowledge and significance of the thesis ................................................................................ 13 1.4 Purpose, method, and methodology ................................................................................................... 15 1.4.1 Primary sources ......................................................................................................................................................