How is Accountability Determined When Private Actors are Involved in the Deportation of Irregular Migrants?

Abstract

Migration control is being increasingly privatised, and the effect this has on the access to justice of irregular migrants is deeply concerning. Privatisation creates a corporate veil in this sector, which clouds the appropriate lines of accountability. It generates confusion about the boundary between the state and the private actors, and it is not clear enough how accountability is to be determined when harms are committed in the deportation process. This chapter contends that there is a gap between the existence of accountability mechanisms and the effective application of them to private actors. A discussion of criminal and human rights perspectives through the lens of the Jimmy Mubenga case will illustrate that privatisation has had a detrimental effect on accountability, and this is largely due to the hostile context in which it operates and the way society conceives migrants generally.