The “Migration-Development Nexus” Revisited from a Rights Perspective

Global governance of labour migration: From ‘management’ of migration to an integrated rights-based approach

“…These developments have led critics to argue that without paying greater attention to migrant workers' rights, the benefits of migration are skewed in favour of employers and the ever expanding private recruitment industry 4 that operates across borders, to the expense of migrants' own benefits (Wickramasekara 2009;Piper 2008). Only a rights-based approach can ameliorate this situation.…”

Gendered political economy and the politics of migrant worker rights: the view from South-East Asia

“…For these activist groups, a 'rights-based approach' to migration is understood more broadly in terms of making reference to a wide range of human rights standards (be they international treaties and conventions such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or 'rights' as embodied in national constitutions and laws) as well as in terms of the mere act of couching their struggles within the language of 'human rights'. Rights are thus conceptualised as a vehicle for mobilising and activating struggle rather than in terms of straightforward legal definitions that focus merely on the justiciability of rights (Piper 2008). This formulation is also echoed in the work of feminist socio-legal scholars such as Sally Engle Merry (2006), who have emphasised the use of 'rights talk' as a way of translating abstract and universalistic concepts of human rights within specific cultural contexts.…”

Diaspora strategies in the sending states of Southeast Asia: Rights, skills and questions of value

“…The issue of migrant rights is a contentious topic of debate within MAD dialogues on low‐skilled, contract and irregular migration (for overview, see Piper, ), as the expansion of rights is often framed as being in conflict with the sovereignty of receiving countries (Pécoud, ), as well as with the desired development outcomes of sending states (Kunz, : 1397–8). Where directly addressed, the focus has largely been on how the implementation and enforcement of certain rights can enhance the ability of migrants to earn and remit money (Hugo, : 30; Martin & Abella, : 434–5; Gevorkyan & Gevorkyan, ; Holzmann & Pouget, ).…”