Research Paper Proposal: Immigration’s human rights are now a moral crisis!
This assignment was created by students at The City College of New York for the Freshman Inquiry Writing Seminar, Web Discourse. Students are researching a social issue in one of four large topics: Urban Life, Public Health, Immigration, and Education. This will result in a final research paper that explores both how the conversations surrounding the issue are enacted and how a CCNY student may enter that conversation in a meaningful way.
“We walked for days, for months, thousands of miles. We slept on the ground and often had to eat leaves to survive. People shot at us. Many boys were killed. What happened to my parents? I don’t know. But now we are here, to a new life.” (A refugee from Sudan)
“The experience of becoming a refugee is awful, truly wrenching. It is impossible to convey the misery of it. It was very difficult to stay in the refugee camps were you saw so many problems, but lacked the power to improve anything. Refugee camps are the biggest source of depression. So I came to London, out of depression.” (A refugee from Swaziland)
“As long as the safety of my family is not guaranteed, I don't wish to return to home." (A refugee in Chad)
I believe these three testimonies deserve some extended attention. I lived in Africa before coming here, and I’ve seen/heard a lot of people trying to leave the continent for Europe mostly but also the United States, Canada, and other developed countries. Therefore, I understand why countries such as France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, are trying to limit/reduce the flow of immigrants. But why is immigration becoming a major problem in today’s world? What is the impact of illegal immigration in developed countries?
I will compare the way countries around the world deal with immigration (mostly Europe and the U.S.) and immigrants’ human rights. And for thoroughly doing this, I will mostly read articles written by Amnesty International, Red Cross, the United Nations, Doctors without Boarders, … and some activists organization to conduct my research. I want my audience to be everyone across the world, since immigration does not only concern the United States.
I want to focus on the living conditions of these immigrants, some die crossing the strait of Gibraltar, some stay in refugee camps where human rights are not respected, some spend days and days without any food, and then when they reach their final destination, they live under bad conditions since they do not have enough means. Why are they running away from their home countries? Why aren’t they respected as any other human beings? What are their human rights? In what conditions are they working when they reach their final destination?
Human rights apply to everyone, whether they are immigrants or not. Human rights are the “rights that one has because one is human.” Immigrants leave their familiar surroundings, their culture, or their families to provide a safer, more prosperous future for their children, yet they face significant risks of human rights abuses. Human dignity should “not turn on the type of passport or visa a person holds”.
For instance, the number of unaccompanied children detained in the United States has more than doubled over the last five years, rising from 2,375 in 1997 to 5,385 in 2001.1 Escaping political persecution, fleeing war, abusive families, or other dangerous or difficult conditions in their home countries, these children arrive in the U.S. unaccompanied by their parents or other legal guardians. Children held in immigration detention are detained for administrative reasons, not as punishment for criminal behavior. In general, immigrants’ human rights are not respected in detention facilities.
Immigrants have specific rights and protections; they should have the same treatment as nationals in: the right of life and security, the right to work, adequate standard living, education, highest attainable of health, just and favorable working conditions.
Moreover, refugees are in the headlines today: there are en estimated twelve million refugees around the world today; almost all are victims of wars and conflicts. These people are being persecuted (or are afraid of being persecuted) in their own countries. One legal scholar wrote that “persecuted, generally homeless, and by definition unable to turn to their own governments for protection, refugees are utterly dependant on the good will of the people and the governments of foreign lands”. Some of these countries that welcome are developing countries, what is the impact of refugees in these countries?
However, I have to point out that the most difficult about completing the research project in general will be approaching the issues in an unbiased view, finding the specific sources that will be useful but mostly transferring information in my paper to an oral presentation.
Comments
The story of the refugees of the world is truly heart wrenching. As a previous resident of Africa, the tales of the refugees must be intensely personal, so you must have a lot to talk about on the subject. To start, you could focus on the personal aspect of refugees.
However, I think you could go over policy a whole lot, because it is probably the most important aspect of refugees in America. You should look into international asylum laws, and refugees in the US. Here, I even wikied it for you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_immigration_policy#Asylum_for_refugees
Posted by: Charley Ho - Stanford University | October 28, 2009 01:46 AM
I really like this topic and agree with the comment above that this is a very passionate topic. I really like what you are trying to do and encourage you to go for it fully. The only thing I wonder is do you feel that is could be too broad? If not by all means go for it because you have a fantastic plan. Maybe even talk about past policy and compare them to the present. You could see some potential trends leading to a stronger argument or other aspects for you to focus on
Posted by: JD Haddon | October 28, 2009 02:48 AM
Liked your effort. I came here with my husband on a dependent visa on Dec 2007. Till now I have to go through end number of horrible situations. In my case, I was working with Hewlett-Packard in India, but once I am here I cannot work with the same company since dependent visa do not comes with work permit. I wrote this issue to many Senators. Surprisingly, they themselves are not aware of it. Women on dependent visa goes through heal here, cannot work, cannot open bank account, some states even do not allow driver's license.They depend on their husband for everything. Issues like domestic violence, frustration are rampant.
Mail me if you want to know more about it. You can also refer to this web site:
http://lifebeginsnourishit.blogspot.com/2009/02/aint-alone-on-h4.html
http://lazybuddhist.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/the-loneliness-of-the-h4-housewife/
Posted by: shampa | November 23, 2009 12:08 PM