ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the issue of family unity from a human rights perspective, considering the impact of current discourse around migration from a gendered perspective and attempts to name some of the dilemmas which exist today within this sphere of law and policy. It focuses on the situation of individuals and families who have been granted refugee status and other complementary forms of protection following their crossing of state boundaries. The chapter provides examples of some of the dilemmas faced by women with an undetermined status or with leave to remain status in Ireland in the context of their family choices at various junctures. The discourses involved in the concept of migration include competing interests and a myriad of paradoxical values and how the tensions between these conflicting values are resolved is a result of political agenda and public opinion. Henriech examines the dilemmas around the meaning of the term 'family' in an attempt to arrive at a legal definition.
