ABSTRACT
While the growing use of contractors in migration management raises a number of questions related to private security, new public management and sovereignty that are gradually receiving increasing attention within migration studies, this chapter focuses on those related to the legal obligations of states. It examines the human rights implications of privatized migration management, arguing that while human rights law is in principle neutral regarding the mode of governance, privatization is nonetheless likely to raise additional barriers to ensuring state responsibility for human rights violations by non-state actors. The chapter argues that at least part of the explanation for the current drive towards privatization in this area is the belief that by delegating authority to private actors states are able to release themselves –de facto or de jure –from obligations otherwise owed. It sets out by surveying the scope of the migration control industry. The chapter points the multiple human rights issues stemming from the growing migration control industry.
