Introduction

Migrants, especially but not only when they are deemed irregular, undocumented or even ‘illegal’, find it difficult to have their human rights respected. They are regularly harassed, humiliated, pushed into an economically vulnerable position, prevented from accessing medical care and other social goods, detained and deported. Specific examples of this reality are documented in this book, which is concerned with Europe and the United States. To give only three here, recounted at greater length in subsequent chapters: an Iraqi doctor by the name of Saadi landed at Heathrow, sought asylum and, 72 hours later, found himself locked in one of the detention centres which have proliferated in recent years; a young Ethiopian with no access to sanitary facilities died washing himself in the Calais harbour; and unable to convince the British authorities that his scars were caused by torture, a Mr Khalili was ordered back to Iran. In our view, these examples are testimony to the wider fact that migrants routinely see their human rights violated.