Vulnerability and the Legal Protection of Migrants: A Critical Look at the Canadian Context

Dear Colleagues,

“Vulnerability” is a word so widely and frequently used that its meaning is often taken for granted. But what does vulnerability really mean, and why are some people considered vulnerable and others not? Answering these questions is important because the concept of vulnerability draws attention to those persons (or groups of people) who society views as deserving of special care and/or special protection. Thus, how vulnerability is understood and who qualifies as being “vulnerable” (or not) has concrete consequences on peoples’ lives.

One of the most critical and interesting applications of this concept is in the context of migration. The term “vulnerability” is increasingly used as a conceptual tool to guide the design and implementation of law and policy pertaining to migration, despite the absence of any solid understanding of its concrete meanings, practical consequences and legal implications. This reality is illustrated at the global level with the adoption of the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees. The New York Declaration refers to the vulnerabilities of migrants no less than 15 times, while the Global Compact for Migration requires states to consider the specific needs of migrants in a vulnerable position and outlines a number of measures whereby States adopt the moral commitment to respond to the needs of vulnerable migrants by assisting them and protecting their human rights “in accordance with [their obligations] under international law” (Objective 7). Given the lack of conceptualization of “vulnerability”, which has been broadly recognized in the literature1, it has thus become essential to provide a more thorough understanding of the concept’s meaning, practical consequences and legal implications for migrants seeking legal protection in host countries.

With this in mind, this Special Issue seeks to contribute to the debate by providing a series of papers offering a critical analysis of how “vulnerability” is defined and understood in Canadian law, policy and practice in the context of migration. This Special Issue is based upon the first series of results from a Canadian research project funded by the Canadian Research Council SSHRC/CRSH and the Fonds de recherche du Québec—Société et Culture (FRQSC) as part of the VULNER project, an international research initiative which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870845 (www.vulner.eu) with partners in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Norway, Lebanon, Uganda and South Africa. The Issue will present a selection of articles that examine how the legal and policy instruments, institutions and informal/formal practices of Canada’s protection regime address and/or potentially contribute to the vulnerabilities of people seeking protection. The articles will focus on different dimensions of Canada’s protection regime (in-land claims, overseas claims, human trafficking, irregular migration, etc.) and different types of vulnerabilities (youth/age, gender, sexual orientation, systemic/administrative vulnerabilities, disability, etc.). Although the focus of this Issue will be on the situation in Canada, the observations and conclusions drawn from this research will have relevance to the broader international community, as many of the challenges facing the Canadian system are reflective of common challenges facing migration governance and protection regimes around the world.

Prof. Dr. Anna Purkey
Prof. Dr. Delphine Nakache
Guest Editors

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• migration
• vulnerability
• treatment of vulnerable migrants
• asylum application process
• Canadian migration regime
• human trafficking
• discretionary power
• decision-making processes