Lyon, Beth --- "Detention of migrants: Harsher policies, increasing international law protection" [2014] ELECD 182; in Chetail, Vincent; Bauloz, Céline (eds), "Research Handbook on International Law and Migration" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014) 173

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Law and Migration

Editor(s): Chetail, Vincent; Bauloz, Céline

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857930040

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Detention of migrants: Harsher policies, increasing international law protection

Author(s): Lyon, Beth

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

Immigration detention is the phenomenon of depriving non-nationals of their liberty for violating immigration law. Governments utilize immigration detention because, although national borders are firmly drawn in the text of international law and in political rhetoric, most actual borders are not readily defensible against unauthorized migration. After creating an enduring and impactful international legal regime for identifying and protecting refugees in the post-war period,the international community turned its attention away from managing migration, and has never effectively addressed the cross-border movement of low-income workers, smuggled, and trafficked people. The result is a high level of irregular migration. An estimated 15-20 per cent of the 215-plus million migrants on earthhave no legal right to be present in the countries where they reside. Enforcement solutions to irregular migration are generally impracticable because of the socio-economic integration unauthorized migrants have in their countries of residence. However, irregular migration is an issue of popular concern, causing governments to seek enforcement methods that will satisfy the public. Governments increasingly choose detention of migrants as one of these methods; it serves as a tangible proxy for the fences and guards that anti-immigration advocates demand, and its inefficiency and inhumanity as a policy choice is easier for governments to conceal.