The migrant crisis and refugee law in Scotland.

Arnell, Paul; Lewis, Olayinka

Abstract

In October 2015 the world's media carried an image of a dead young boy lying face down on a beach in Greece. He had died in an effort to come to Europe.1 The photograph sparked international outcry. Amongst the political responses to the development was that by the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who declared "I pledge as first minister of this country that we stand ready to offer sanctuary to refugees that need our help". The issue, the so-called 'migrant crisis', provides an existential challenge to the existing international and national regulations governing the movement of people. It does so simply on account of the unprecedented scale of the human dislocation in modern times. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has stated that at the end of 2015 there were 65.3 million people displaced by conflict – a record high. Between August 2015, and November 2015, there were a total of 530,265 asylum claims within the EU alone. The scale of the crisis brings to the fore the fact that the existing international and national law putatively designed to address it are wholly inadequate. It also highlights the extent to which the Scottish Parliament and Government and, to a lesser extent, the UK Parliament and Government are legally constrained in the area. Sadly, though, it also evinces the reluctance of the UK Government to act in a way that could assist in ameliorating the crisis in a meaningful and material way.

Citation

ARNELL, P. and LEWIS, O. 2016. The migrant crisis and refugee law in Scotland. SCOLAG legal journal, 466, page 152-155.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 31, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 31, 2016
• Publication Date: Aug 31, 2016
• Deposit Date: Feb 28, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 13, 2023
• Journal: SCOLAG Legal Journal
• Publisher: Scottish Legal Action Group (SCOLAG)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 466
• Pages: 152-155
• Keywords: Scottish government; International law; Humanitarian protection; Economic migrants; Refugees
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1741642