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Human Rights, Refugee Protest and Immigration Detention pp 1–17Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Introduction

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Abstract

The use of immigration detention is on the rise globally. More than one million people pass through immigration detention centres in the USA, Canada, Australia, and Europe each year. This chapter briefly outlines the ways in which refugees are viewed in popular discourse, either as idealised passive victims or as conniving, cheating threats to national security. This dichotomy underpins public support for immigration detention and works against refugees establishing a political voice. The chapter briefly outlines legal positivist, essentialist and constructivist approaches to human rights and analyses refugees’ use of a human rights language to articulate their claims. Finally, it locates immigration detention as a key site in power struggles between refugees and sovereign states.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Lucy Fiske

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  1. Lucy Fiske
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Fiske, L. (2016). Introduction. In: Human Rights, Refugee Protest and Immigration Detention. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58096-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58096-2_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58095-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58096-2

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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