At the Frontiers of State Responsibility

“[Pijnenburg] covers a great variety of questions and broadens the horizon in an inspiring manner.” -- Claudia Baumann, European Journal of Social Security, 2022

States in the Global North increasingly cooperate with those in the Global South to stem irregular migration flows. As a result, many refugees and migrants are contained in Global South States with relatively weak track records in terms of socio-economic rights. This raises questions as to the responsibility of the various States involved for their plight. Yet existing scholarship pays scant attention to the fact that migration control agreements often result in widespread violations of the socio-economic rights of people on the move contained in the Global South. This book fills this gap in the literature by examining the States that are responsible for these violations.

First, the book depicts the plight of people on the move contained in the Global South and traces the development of cooperative migration control policies. Second, it examines to what extent sponsor States in the Global North and partner States in the Global South have obligations under international human rights law to realise the socio-economic rights of people on the move. It analyses the scope of partner States’ obligations towards people on the move on their territory as well as sponsor States’ extraterritorial obligations, including both their direct obligations - triggered when they exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction - and their global obligations of international assistance and cooperation. Lastly, the book explores the circumstances under which each State involved in migration control incurs responsibility for the violations of the socio-economic rights of people on the move and how the responsibility of one State relates to that of another.

This book is particularly relevant for human rights and migration scholars, as well as legal scholars working on issues of shared responsibility more generally. It would also be of interest to policy makers, lawyers and judges who face complex legal questions raised by cooperative migration control.