Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MIRO (Missing Migrants: Identifying and Shaping Obligations for Protection)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-09-01 bis 2023-08-31
Every year, thousands of migrants go missing, leaving behind families, who suffer not knowing whether their loved ones are alive or not. These human tragedies have been acknowledged and recognized by key international actors, such as in the 2018 UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. At the same time, the very term ‘missing migrants’ is not legally (or otherwise) defined and most broadly includes all migrants whose whereabouts remain unknown. While international organizations (IOs) engage with the issue of ‘missing migrants’, they each conceptualize the phenomenon differently, focusing variously on only those migrants that are lost at sea, die unidentified, are secretly deprived of liberty, those who appear to have been trafficked, or disappear into the informal economy. Against this background, MIRO identified the key facets of an umbrella concept of ‘missing migrant’ (a legally informed empirical concept), which facilitated the identification of key legal obligations across various domains of international law.
The project’s main goal was to identify and interpret international legal obligations regarding ‘missing migrants’ and accordingly critique and shape the practices of the EU (including its externalization practices), its Member States and pertinent IOs. The project’s aims were achieved through doctrinal legal research, semi-structured interviews, visits to IOs, and an expert workshop.
The project’s main goal was to identify and interpret international legal obligations regarding ‘missing migrants’ and accordingly critique and shape the practices of the EU (including its externalization practices), its Member States and pertinent IOs. The project’s aims were achieved through doctrinal legal research, semi-structured interviews, visits to IOs, and an expert workshop.
The project started by constructing the legal mapping, followed by analysis of treaties and soft law. Next, I conducted a thorough case-law analysis, focusing in particular on the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and UN treaty bodies, in particular the Human Rights Committee, as those judicial and quasi-judicial bodies play a crucial role in specifying the normative content of rights and corresponding obligations. The analysis concerned the judgments and decisions relating to missing migrants, persons disappeared by state and non-state actors (such as terrorist organizations), migrant detention, deaths at sea, and border violence.
The project also aimed at examining practice of international organizations and to collect novel data on international organizations approach to missing migrants. This was achieved through several study visits to international organizations, interviews conducted with representatives from main organizations and one workshop, organized in November 2023 at the Hertie School in Berlin. The workshop brought together experts representing main international organizations, various UN bodies, as well as academics and representatives from civil society. It contributed to the research by shedding light on the analysed issues from different perspectives, as well as allowing for unique interactions between experts who would usually not cooperate on missing migrants.
The results of the project were legal mapping, collection on novel data on international organizations approach to missing migrants, five journal articles, a workshop and two policy papers. The fellow also gave overall academic presentations of the project, three times at the Hertie School’s Centre for Fundamental Rights, eight times at conferences and workshops. Furthermore, eight project outreach events were organized, addressing German and Polish general public, Berlin civil society, wider academic society, students and European Researchers’ Nights attendees. Due to the fellow’s involvement and outreach to media (both directly and via online platforms), project results were disseminated in one TV interview, two newspaper interviews, two radio interviews and two podcasts. As planned, the outreach and media communication were conducted in three languages: English, Polish and German.
The project also aimed at examining practice of international organizations and to collect novel data on international organizations approach to missing migrants. This was achieved through several study visits to international organizations, interviews conducted with representatives from main organizations and one workshop, organized in November 2023 at the Hertie School in Berlin. The workshop brought together experts representing main international organizations, various UN bodies, as well as academics and representatives from civil society. It contributed to the research by shedding light on the analysed issues from different perspectives, as well as allowing for unique interactions between experts who would usually not cooperate on missing migrants.
The results of the project were legal mapping, collection on novel data on international organizations approach to missing migrants, five journal articles, a workshop and two policy papers. The fellow also gave overall academic presentations of the project, three times at the Hertie School’s Centre for Fundamental Rights, eight times at conferences and workshops. Furthermore, eight project outreach events were organized, addressing German and Polish general public, Berlin civil society, wider academic society, students and European Researchers’ Nights attendees. Due to the fellow’s involvement and outreach to media (both directly and via online platforms), project results were disseminated in one TV interview, two newspaper interviews, two radio interviews and two podcasts. As planned, the outreach and media communication were conducted in three languages: English, Polish and German.
The project progressed beyond the state of art by connecting research on migration with research on missing and disappeared persons. It particularly developed an umbrella conception of ‘missing migrants’ that included as missing migrants not only the dead, but also those who are alive. It also took a focus on rights of families of missing migrants, and how their rights differ depending on the circumstances of the disappearance of their loved one.
The work carried out has addressed societal needs at regional level, as missing migrants are a clear challenge that the EU needs to deal with. This is also recognized by key policy makers, as the fellow was invited as an expert to hearings at the Polish senate (April 2023) and the EU parliament (April 2024) to take part in discussions on missing migrants. Furthermore, she was contacted by the CoE Parliamentary Assembly rapporteur of the report on ‘Missing Migrants’, to share findings, as well as by several NGOs to provide trainings on missing migrants and give advice in litigation.
During the project, after a competitive, multi-step nomination process, the fellow was appointed by the president of the UN Human Rights Council in August 2022 as a member UN Working Group of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Being an independent expert at a UN body alleviate the potential impact of the results of the MIRO project, as the fellow can use the findings from the project.
The work carried out has addressed societal needs at regional level, as missing migrants are a clear challenge that the EU needs to deal with. This is also recognized by key policy makers, as the fellow was invited as an expert to hearings at the Polish senate (April 2023) and the EU parliament (April 2024) to take part in discussions on missing migrants. Furthermore, she was contacted by the CoE Parliamentary Assembly rapporteur of the report on ‘Missing Migrants’, to share findings, as well as by several NGOs to provide trainings on missing migrants and give advice in litigation.
During the project, after a competitive, multi-step nomination process, the fellow was appointed by the president of the UN Human Rights Council in August 2022 as a member UN Working Group of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Being an independent expert at a UN body alleviate the potential impact of the results of the MIRO project, as the fellow can use the findings from the project.