A Topographical Approach to Accountability for Human Rights Violations in Migration Control. Issue 3 (April 2020) - Tan, Nikolas Feith
Abstract: This Article develops what we call a "topographical approach" to accountability in migration control. Drawing on different strands of scholarship, including legal geography, "legal black holes, " and work on strategic litigation, we approach accountability by perceiving the site of a violation from a bird's-eye view and mapping different accountability structures across diverse legal regimes and via a broadened geographic lens. Rather than advocating for accountability in regard to particular regimes or jurisdictions, we argue that multi-pronged approaches are likely to remain the best starting point for ensuring accountability for human rights violations in the context of current migration control practices. The topographical approach thus offers a general framework for identifying existing blind spots, critically assessing existing trajectories, as well as exploring the wider grid of potential accountability mechanisms.