Law and the Framing of Migrants and Migration

Examine how terminology affects public opinions on migrants

Civil war, violence, political instability and other reasons force millions of people to migrate every year, often in perilous conditions, often having no option but to put their trust in smugglers or traffickers who profit from their pain.

On this course, you’ll delve into the history of migration and why people move, before looking at the terminology that’s used to describe migrants and how that can affect narratives surrounding migration.

Investigate sources of international migration law

Migration is mainly governed by national immigration laws, but behind them sits a set of international legal instruments.

Can the law really make a difference in the complex and intertwined story of modern migration, and does it exist to protect people or borders?

You’ll develop tools for critical analysis of migration, allowing you to consider the shortcomings of international migration law. Then you’ll look at sovereignty, what it is, and why it’s relevant to migration.

Analyse media depictions of migration and migrants

The way the media frames migration has a huge effect on the public and even how laws are formulated. It’s important to understand how the media can influence the narrative around migrants and how they are treated.

You’ll assess the media’s role in migration, public opinion, and law by analysing its depictions of migrants and how it covers migration-related stories.

Understand what is meant by a migration crisis

This course will take you through a scholarly analysis of migrants as threats, which will bring you to a discussion on what is meant by the notion of migration crises. Using the tools you’ve developed, you’ll begin to critique the notion of migration crises, how this narrative has formed and the impact this has on migrants and migration.

This course has been designed for anyone looking to develop a critical understanding of migration laws. It will be of specific interest to people working for national and international governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in the field of migration, and also lawyers wanting to deepen their knowledge base.

If you want to develop your knowledge further, you may want to take these courses, from the same provider, that share the same overall learning outcomes:

• Freedom of Movement, Refugees, Traffickers, and Smugglers
• Law’s Absence and Law’s Failings

• Introduction to Critical International Migration Law
• Welcome to Week 1
• History of migration and why people move
• An examination of terminology
• Weekly wrap up
• What constitutes international migration law?
• Welcome to Week 2
• Sovereignty and its impact on migrants and migration
• Three categories of migrant in treaty law
• Weekly wrap up
• Discourses on migration
• Welcome to Week 3
• Depictions of migrants and migration
• Scholarly analysis of migrants as threats
• Assignment: attitudes to migration
• Weekly wrap up
• Migration crises
• Welcome to Week 4
• The meaning of crisis
• The work done by “crisis”
• Weekly wrap-up