Beyond Borders and Barriers: Intersectionality of Rights in Migrant Protests
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17561/tahrj.v26.9866Keywords:
advocacy, Intersectionality, Inclusive society, Migrants, Protest, RightsAbstract
The past few years has seen an increase in migration from the countries in the Global South to countries in the Global North. Migrants are constantly faced with systemic challenges and layered vulnerabilities such as unjust detention, deportation, labor exploitation, and lack of access to healthcare and education based on their legal status, race or socio-economic class. These barriers limit their access to basic fundamental benefits and further compound their marginalization issues. Through protests and advocacy, migrants raise awareness about their struggles, demand for justice, and for policy changes that address their needs. This research delves into the ways in which the instrument of protest empowers migrant communities to challenge injustices, confront discrimination, and assert their rights in host countries. It explores the intersection of the use of protest as a powerful tool for advocacy and social change and the right to protest as rights of migrants. Employing a multidisciplinary approach that combines theoretical analysis (using the push and pull theory of migration), case studies, comparative analysis and empirical research, this study examines how migrant advocacy movements, solidarity movements, civil society organizations, and allies’ synergy to support migrant protesters and amplify their demands for social justice and the transformative potential of protest as a tool for migrant advocacy. The findings of this study aim to inform policy discussions, advocacy strategies, and grassroots movements aimed at promoting the rights and dignity of migrants and fostering a more inclusive and equitable society for all.
Downloads
References
Books
FREDMAN, S. (2008). Human Rights Transformed: Positive Rights and Positive Duties. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
YUVAL-DAVIS, N. (2011). The Politics of Belonging: Intersectional Contestations. London: Sage.
STEINHILPER, E. (2021). Migrant Protest: Interactive Dynamics in Precarious Mobilizations. Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press.
WEBER, L. and PICKERING, S. (2011). Globalization and Borders: Death at the Global Frontier. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Journal Articles
AL-FAHAM, H., DAVIS, M.A., and ERNST, R. (2019). ‘Intersectionality: From Theory to Practice’ Annual Review of Law and Social Science (15) 254.
BAYLOR, A. (2023). ‘Unexceptional Protest’ UCLA L Rev (70) 716.
BILGE, S. (2013). ‘Intersectionality Undone: Saving Intersectionality from Feminist Intersectionality’ Studies Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race 10(2), 405-424.
CHEKIROVA, A. (2022). ‘Social Media and Cross-Border Political Participation: A Case Study of Kyrgyz Migrants’ Online Activism’ Social Science (11), 370.
CLAPHAM, A. (2006). ‘Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors’ Human Rights Law Review (6) 447.
COSTELLO, C. (2017). ‘Substantive Equality in International Human Rights Law: A Conceptual Exploration’ Human Rights Law Review (17), 430–435.
CRENSHAW, K. (1991). ‘Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color’ Stanford Law Review, 43, 1241.
DEZ, J. F. (2022). ‘Print Rights with a Thousand Masks: Migrant Vulnerability, Resistance, and Human Rights Law’ Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, (38)5.
DHAMOON, R. K. (2011). ‘Considerations on Mainstreaming Intersectionality’ Political Research Quarterly, (64) 240.
FINDLAY, A. M. (2011). ‘Migration Destinations in an Era of Environmental Change’ 21 Global Environmental Change (21) pp. S50-S58.
KHAN, A., USMAN, M., and RIAZ, N. (2021). ‘The Intersectionality of Human Rights: Addressing Multiple Discrimination’ 2(3) Asian Social Studies and Applied Research, 498
OLAWUYI, S. O. (2019). ‘The Right to Protest in Nigeria: Constitutional and Legal Framework’ African Human Rights Law Journal, (19)15-20.
OLUTOLA, B. and OSAKINLE, M. (2023). ‘Right to Peaceful Demonstration under the African Charter: A Ruse or a Reality? Elizade University Law Journal (6) 146-170.
OZURU, G. and NWAJAH, P. (2019). ‘Towards A Human Rights Approach for the Treatment of Migrants in Nigeria’ NAUJILJ, (10) 91.
Thesis
ABIODUN, MO. (2022) ‘Factors that Contribute to the Trafficking of Nigerian Women and Children Master’s Thesis, Faculty of Landscape and Society, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 32. https://nmbu.brage.unit.no/nmbu-xmlui/handle/11250/3051726
Cases
HJ v. Secretary of State for Home Department; and HT v. Secretary of State for Home Department (2010). UKSC 31.
Logan v. Ontario 2022 HRTO 1004
National Council for Civil Liberties, R (on the application of) v. The Secretary of State for the Home Department (2025) ECWA Civ 571
Thacker and Ors v. R ( Stansted 15) (2021). ECWA Crim 97.
Webpages/Other media
ABC News, ‘Mahmoud Khalil ordered released by federal judge’ (20 June 2025). available at: https://abcnews.go.com/US/mahmoud-khalil-ordered-released-federal-judge/story?id=123049717 (accessed 21 June 2025).
ABUAD. (2022) Theories of Human Movement available at: https://portal.abuad.edu.ng/lecturer/documents/1586464155Push_and_Pull_Theory.doc (accessed 17 June, 2025).
Amnesty International, France: Migrants and refugees face arbitrary detention and deportation (2020). available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/03/france-migrants-face-arbitrary-detention/ accessed 17 June 2025.
Amnesty International, ‘Italy: Draconian new law criminalizing peaceful protest while expanding police powers must be rejected’ (31 May 2025) available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/italy-draconian-new-law-criminalizing-peaceful-protest-while-expanding-police-powers-must-be-rejected/ (accessed 17 June 2025).
Amnesty International Right to Protest available at: www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/freedom-of-expression/protest (accessed 17 June, 2025).
ARNOLD-FERNÁNDEZ, E. E. (2024) Beyond Access: Refugees’ Rights and Justice at Work #JusticeForAll Series (NYU Center for International Cooperation, April 2024). 10-15 available at: https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Refugees-Rights-and-Justice-at-Work-2024.pdf (accessed 17 June 2025).
BEHRMAN, S. (2017). ‘On the Creation and Accommodation of the Misery of the World: The Case of the Sans-Papiers’ 28. available at: https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/188282/1/WRAP-On-the-creation-and-accommodation-of-the-misery-of-the-world-the-case-of-the-sans-papiers-Behrman-2017.pdf (accessed 12 June, 2025).
BUUS, K. (2021) “‘Stansted 15’ Face no Further Action over Airport Protest” BBC News (25 February, 2021). available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-56200496.amp (accessed 13 June, 2025).
CNN, ‘What’s next in the case of Mahmoud Khalil after immigration judge ruling’ (13 April 2025). available at: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/13/us/mahmoud-khalil-deportation-ruling-appeals (accessed 19 June 2025).
International Labour Organization (ILO), “Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon: A Review of the Kafala System” (2018). available at: https://www.ilo.org/beirut/publications/WCMS_627286/lang--en/index.htm (accessed 14 June 2025).
International Labour Organization (ILO), Migrant Workers in Malaysia (2020). available at: https://www.ilo.org/asia/publications/WCMS_751232/lang--en/index.htm (accessed 17 June 2025).
International Organization for Migration (IOM), Migrants’ Access to Justice: International Standards and How the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration Helps Pave the Way (IOM 2021) 4-7 available at: https://www.iom.int/resources/migrants-access-justice-international-standards-and-how-global-compact-safe-orderly-and-regular-migration-helps-paving-way (accessed 17 June 2025).
Media Co-op, ‘Migrant Spring Marches Held Across Canada, Calling for Status for All’ (2023). https://mediacoop.ca/node/119208 (accessed 22 June 2025).
Migrant Rights Network, ‘Day of Action: #UniteAgainstRacism #RefugeesWelcome’ (March 2023). available at: https://migrantrights.ca/events/march18-19/ (accessed 22 June 2025).
Migrant Rights Network, ‘Thousands of Migrants & Supporters to March in 15 Cities on Eve of Parliament’s Return For Equal Rights’ (2 February 2024) https://migrantrights.ca/sep2023/ (accessed 22 June 2025).
One Pump Court, ‘Hannah Webb secures acquittals in multiple protest cases’ (2023) https://www.onepumpcourt.co.uk/news/hannah-webb-secures-acquittals-in-multiple-protest-cases/ (accessed 22 June 2025).
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), ‘Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly’ (2010). available at: https://www.osce.org/odihr/73405 (accessed 17 June 2025).
Oucho, L. A. and Williams, D. A. (2019) ‘Challenges and Solutions to Migrant Integration, Diversity and Social Cohesion in Africa’ 3. available at: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/OUCHO,%20Linda%20Adhiambo_paper.pdf (accessed 14 June, 2025).
Protest and Human Rights (September, 2019). available at: https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/expression/publications/Protesta/ProtestHumanRights.pdf (accessed 13 June, 2025).
Reuters, ‘Pro-Palestinian activist Khalil walks free after US judge orders release’ (20 June 2025) https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-judge-orders-release-pro-palestinian-activist-khalil-2025-06-20/ (accessed 21 June 2025).
Revsoc21, ‘The Brook House Three trial: a major victory for anti-deportation activists’ (15 June 2023). available at: https://revsoc21.uk/2023/06/15/the-brook-house-three-trial-a-major-victory-for-anti-deportation-activists/ (accessed 22 June 2025).
Status Now 4 All, ‘Stop the Deportations - Labour Hub: Breaking: Brook House 3 Acquitted’ (13 June 2023). available at: https://statusnow4all.org/stop-the-deportations/ (accessed 22 June 2025).
The Canary, ‘3 people who stopped a deportation flight to Jamaica are acquitted’ (16 June 2023). available at: https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2023/06/16/the-three-people-who-stopped-the-2021-jamaica-deportation-flight-have-been-acquitted/ (accessed 22 June 2025).
The Link Newspapers. Montreal Protesters Demand Open Borders, ‘March Held for Status Regularization and End to Deportation’ (20 June 2017). available at: https://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/montreal-protesters-demand-open-borders (accessed 22 June 2025).
Times of Israel, ‘Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil released from US custody as he faces deportation’ (21 June 2025). available at: https://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-israel-activist-mahmoud-khalil-released-from-us-custody-as-he-faces-deportation/ (accessed 22 June 2025).
VOA, ‘Under what circumstances can a US green card be revoked?’ (13 March 2025). available at: https://www.voanews.com/a/under-what-circumstances-can-a-us-green-card-be-revoked/8009714.html (accessed 19 June 2025).
World Migration Report IOM 2024 available at: https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/what-we-do/foreword/foreword (accessed 10 June, 2025).
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Gloria Aigbadon, Itunu Kolade-Faseyi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
