Book Review: At the Frontiers of State Responsibility: Socio-economic Rights and Cooperation on Migration by Annick Pijnenburg
| Author | Claudia Baumann |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/13882627221092463 |
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Annick Pijnenburg, At the Frontiers of State Responsibility: Socio-economic Rights and Cooperation on Migration.
Cambridge, Antwerp, Chicago: Intersentia, 310 pp. 2021, ISBN: 978-1-83970-148-1.
Reviewed by: Claudia Baumann ,Fulda University of Applied Sciences
DOI: 10.1177/13882627221092463
To what extent and how do violations of the socio-economic rights of people on the move give rise
to the international responsibility of states involved in cooperative migration control? This is the
guiding question of Annick Pijnenburg’s book, which is the impressive result of her PhD research.
The study reflects deep discomfort regarding the fact that people on the move are left in dire con-
ditions –often without adequate access to healthcare, education, social security or opportunities to
work without being exploited. Pijnenburg explores possibilities to hold states responsible under
international law, which she considers a prerequisite for accountability. As she herself underlines
at the end of the book, further research is necessary to establish the accountability of states –
and potentially also of non-state actors –in the context of cooperative migration control.
She covers a great variety of questions and broadens the horizon in an inspiring manner. Firstly,
instead of limiting herself to refugees, she takes a broad view of people on the move, defining the
term as persons who have left their country of origin –irrespective of their personal motives –but
cannot reach states in the Global North, and are thus contained in the Global South, often with an
irregular status. Secondly, she considers several cooperative migration cont rol regimes, understood
as the cooperation of at least two states with the aim to stop, or at least substantially reduce, migration
flows. In doing so, she sheds light on the role of states in the Global South involved in migration
control. This is an important benefit of her study, given that much more research has been done on
the role of the states in the Global North and their attempts to curb migration. Thirdly, she considers
the socio-economic rights to people on the move and thereby adds the aspect of migration/mobility to a
body of research that has mainly addressed socio-economic rights in more stable contexts.
As a starting point to establish responsibility under international law, Pijnenburg draws on Art.
38(1) of the ICJ Statute and accordingly uses international conventions and judicial decisions,
general principles, scholarship, and soft law as sources. Pijnenburg covers an impressive range
of source material, that stands out as it goes beyond those sources readily accessible in English.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights plays an important role in
her analysis, but she also considers a wide range of other international agreements. In addition,
she examines regional human rights conventions (European Convention on Human Rights,
American Convention on Human Rights and African Charter on Human and Peoples’Rights) as
well as the case law of the competent courts and committees. Other sources included in the
study extend from material on general principles such as due diligence and causation to the
Draft Articles on the Responsibility of states for International Wrongful Acts.
Based on those sources, Pijnenburg develops a three-step assessment to answer her guiding
questions, namely, are there widespread violations of the socio-economic rights of people on the
move in partner states in the Global South? Secondly, does a state’s contribution to the violations
in question amount to an internationally wrongful act? Thirdly, how does the responsibility of one
state relate to that of other states?
Details on the conceptualisation of this three-step assessment, Pijnenburg’s conclusion and
many aspects that are to be considered when using this assessment are set out comprehensively
throughout the chapters of the book. The great number of sources and the consideration of
158 European Journal of Social Security 24(2)
To continue reading
Request your trial