In today’s globalised world movements of peoples across borders and regions of the world are more and more visible. As the demand for labour migration continues unabated, and migrant families establish themselves in countries not their own, states across the world have responded differently but certainly with more and more restrictions. In many countries, xenophobia is on the rise, particularly where migrants are seen to compete with jobs and where racism is easily incited.
| Application form |--http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=308

 Application deadline: 1 December 2009
Instructor: Cecilia Jimenez
Moreover, inter-state cooperation on migration has taken the form of migration management focused on regulation of financial flows, better border-coordination and deportation facilitation. Meanwhile, many migrants, regular and irregular, find themselves in situations of vulnerability that restrict their basic liberties and limit their capacities to protect, let alone develop, themselves. In extreme cases, migrants are exploited in horrible circumstances or even find death at the borders or at the seas. Despite clear state obligations under international laws that protect rights of persons, including migrants, under their respective jurisdictions, more and more the policies of states and the regional groups they belong to go further and further away from the implementation of these obligations to protect the human rights of migrants.
The human rights of migrants under international are governed by a convergence of different international legal regimes: international and regional human rights law, international labour law, international criminal law and refugee law – each of these treating the protection of migrants through different lenses. For many migrant rights advocates, the challenge is to sift through these different legal regimes and utilise the most appropriate and useful legal norms and tools. At the same time, the identification of existing normative frameworks to protect and promote migrants’ rights is essential to ascertain existing gaps that will have to be addressed.
This distance learning course explores the human rights of migrants under international law, concentrating on the application of these international legal regimes on migrants and their families, both regular and irregular. It will commence with the participants acquiring a firm understanding of the current definitions and issues relating to the human rights of migrants. The course will proceed to provide a comprehensive overview of the distinct but over-lapping international legal regimes on migration and explore the extent and limits of state sovereignty on migration issues. The bulk of the course will be devoted to examining each of these international legal regimes and how they protect the rights of migrants and their families. The course will also assimilate the current discussions on migration management from the perspective of human rights advocacy. Throughout the course a strong gender-perspective is integrated in all the discussions and conclusions.
The course is inter-disciplinary in its approach and draws on readings from the migration policy discourse, international relations, and international law. Knowledge of human rights and international law is beneficial, but not a prerequisite. In ten weeks of learning, discussion and interaction, an experienced course instructor will guide participants through the readings, discussions and assignments. She will provide information in form of on-line reading material, including web-casts and videos, use of external websites and in weekly "mini-lectures". The course involves approximately 50 hours of reading, on-line working groups, assignments, Internet chats and interaction among students, the instructor and invited guests, and is offered over a 11-week period beginning on 3 February 2010. The course will integrate active and participatory learning approaches within activities and assignments, with an emphasis on reflective and collaborative learning. Participants will do the required reading, prepare assignments, including case studies, and participate in group discussions.
Course outline
Week 1: Introduction: Terminology, issues and definitions in the migration discourse
Week 2: Overview of the international legal regimes that guarantee the rights of migrants
Week 3: International human rights law: UDHR and treaties of general application (ICESCR, ICCPR and UNCAT)
Week 4: International human rights law: treaties of specific application (ICERD, CEDAW, CRC)
Week 5: "Open week"
Week 6: International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
Week 7: Migrant rights in Europe and the Americas
Week 8: Emerging regional human rights law: Africa and Asia (South Asia and ASEAN)
Week 9: Protection under international labour law
Week 10: Human trafficking and migrant smuggling
Week 11: Applying a human rights perspective to current discourses on migration management
About the instructor
Cecilia Jimenez is an international human rights lawyer, adjunct professor and trainer on international human rights law and international humanitarian law. In addition to directing international human rights law and political science courses for USA study abroad programmes in Geneva, she designs and delivers training courses on different substantive and practical human rights issues for a wide variety of international and national human rights NGOs and centers mainly in Asia and Europe. Originally trained as a diplomat and then as a lawyer, she worked with the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates on monitoring and campaigning on human rights and defending political prisoners in the Philippines during the dictatorship and immediate post-dictatorship years. Ms Jimenez has been working on migration issues and migrants rights advocacy in the last five years: locally with undocumented migrants, nationally on integration and protection issues in Switzerland and with the Philippine government, and internationally on policy issues with other migrant rights groups, diaspora organisations and policy entities, at the UN, the ILO and the Global Forum for Migration and Development.
Who should apply
The course is aimed at university students and graduates of international relations, international law, politics and other areas, NGO staff members, staff of international organisations, migrant rights advocates and other practitioners. Participants should have a good written command of English and have high competence and comfort with computer and Internet use. The number of participants is limited to 25 per course. HREA aims to ensure equal gender and geographical distribution across the selected participants. It is also possible to audit the course.
Costs
The course tuition fee is US$ 725; permanent residents of non-OECD countries are eligible for a discounted tuition rate of US$ 350. Tuition for auditors is US$ 275; permanent residents of non-OECD countries are eligible for a discounted tuition rate of US$ 125. Unfortunately, there are no scholarships available for this course. * Current member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
Applications
The deadline for applications is 1 December 2009. Applications received after that day unfortunately cannot be accepted. Successful applicants will be notified by 7 December 2009 at the latest. Full tuition payment for accepted participants is due on 21 December 2009.
On-line application

http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=308
Deadline: 2009/12/01