ABSTRACT
Human rights and migrants have been closely linked for centuries. This new century seems to be no different from previous in this regard. Racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and islamophobia are all words which any person living in Europe will recognize from the headlines of the newspapers. The marginalization of immigrants and the increasing xenophobia creates situations for immigrants where human rights are invoked as the last legal avenue. The question raised is whether governments are limiting the scope of human rights application parallel to human rights playing a renewed role in protecting immigrants. Linked to this question is the problem that some immigrants in European countries do not seem to share the human rights values developed for centuries particular in relation to respect for personal autonomy. This human rights deficit is in its own way challenging the human rights regime. At the outset in three specific cases this chapter will highlight some of the present day’s dilemmas in the interrelatedness between human rights protection of migrants and the development of human rights protection.
