Troubled waters in the mare nostrum: interception and push-backs of migrants in the Mediterranean and the European Convention on Human Rights

ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: The practice of `push-backs' in the Mediterranean Sea, in which boats carrying migrants are intercepted and forced to return to the State from which they departed (or from which they are presumed to have departed) raises serious issues from the perspective of international human rights law. In the wake of the spate of recent tragedies, in which innocent women, children and men attempting to traverse the Mediterranean in order to reach European shores have lost their lives, States and European institutions are finally responding to these issues. The present piece explores the legality of the practice of push backs under international human rights standards, particularly the ECHR, and offers an assessment of the ongoing developments within the European Union (in particular, the Draft Regulation relating to joint migration control operations at sea under the auspices of Frontex), which aim belatedly to ensure that migration control operations incorporate an element of protection of human life and other fundamental human rights. // ABSTRACT IN TURKISH: Son yillarda Akdeniz'de artarak uygulama alani bulan ve göçmen teknelerine gerçeklestirilen müdahaleler akabinde bu kimselerin en son ayrildiklari ülkeye geri gönderilmesi olarak ifade edilen geri-itme (push-back) stratejisi, insan haklari hukuku açisindan ciddi endiselere yol açiyor. Avrupa kiyilarina ulasmak umuduyla Akdeniz'e yelken açan birçok masum kadin, çocuk ve erkegin ölümü ile sonuçlanan trajedilerin ardindan devletler ve Avrupa kurumlari sonunda harekete geçtiler. Bu çalismada, geri-itme uygulamalarinin hukukiligi, basta Avrupa Insan Haklari Sözlesmesi olmak üzere, insan haklari hukuku standartlari çerçevesinde incelenecek ve Avrupa Birligi'nde halihazirda yürütülmekte olan ve amaci insan yasaminin ve diger temel haklarin korunmasi ilkesini göç operasyonlarina entegre etmek olan çalismalara isik tutulacaktir.