Migration and the Advance of Human Rights in “Health”: Paradigms, Practices, and Conflicts

The project examines the expansion of human rights discourse to a subject area that first appears to be substantially separate from law: health. It investigates the question of whether and, if so, how human rights discourse influences both theoretical concepts of health and migration as well as health policies. To this end, the practice of the relevant international organizations of the UN system is examined: WHO (World Health Organization), UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) and IOM (International Organization for Migration). Following a “history of the present” approach, the focus is on discourses and practices in the context of the European “migration crisis” 2015/16 and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2023). However, the period under investigation begins in 2000, when General Comment No. 14 on Article 12 of the UN Social Covenant laid the foundation for the current understanding of health as a human right.

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Michael Knipper

Research Associates: Louisa Bäckermann, Maik Paap, Dr. Andrea Jaramillo

Justus Liebig University Giessen