Troubled waters in the mare nostrum: ınterception and push-backs of migrants in the mediterranean and the european convention on human rights

Son yıllarda Akdeniz’de artarak uygulama alanı bulan ve göçmen teknelerine gerçekleştirilen müdahaleler akabinde bu kimselerin en son ayrıldıkları ülkeye geri gönderilmesi olarak ifade edilen geri-itme (push-back) stratejisi, insan hakları hukuku açısından ciddi endişelere yol açıyor. Avrupa kıyılarına ulaşmak umuduyla Akdeniz’e yelken açan birçok masum kadın, çocuk ve erkeğin ölümü ile sonuçlanan trajedilerin ardından devletler ve Avrupa kurumları sonunda harekete geçtiler. Bu çalışmada, geri-itme uygulamalarının hukukiliği, başta Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi olmak üzere, insan hakları hukuku standartları çerçevesinde incelenecek ve Avrupa Birliği’nde halihazırda yürütülmek- te olan ve amacı insan yaşamının ve diğer temel hakların korunması ilkesini göç operasyonlarına entegre etmek olan çalışmalara ışık tutu- lacaktır.

Akdeniz’in tehlikeli sularında: göçmenlerin durdurulması, geri itilmesi ve Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi

The practice of ‘push-backs’ in the Mediterranean Sea, in which boats carrying migrants are intercepted and forced to return to the State from which they departed (or from which they are presumed to have departed) raises serious issues from the perspective of international hu- man rights law. In the wake of the spate of recent tragedies, in which innocent women, children and men attempting to traverse the Mediter- ranean in order to reach European shores have lost their lives, States and European institutions are finally responding to these issues. The present piece explores the legality of the practice of push backs under in- ternational human rights standards, particularly the ECHR, and offers an assessment of the ongoing developments within the European Union (in particular, the Draft Regulation relating to joint migration control operations at sea under the auspices of Frontex), which aim belatedly to ensure that migration control operations incorporate an element of protection of human life and other fundamental human rights.

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