United States Migrant Interdiction and the Detention of Refugees in Guantánamo Bay

This book provides a thorough legal analysis of the United States Migrant Interdiction Program, examining the United States' compliance with its obligations under municipal and international law as it interdicts individuals at sea, conducts status determinations, and returns those interdicted to their home countries. This book also examines the rights of the small number of refugees and individuals at risk of torture detained in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, awaiting resettlement in third countries. Policy-makers, students and scholars will benefit from this book's clarification of the legal obligations of nations engaged in extraterritorial status determination and detention, as well as its blueprint for compliance with international human rights and refugee law. As the first book of its kind devoted to the United States' interdiction program, this work represents an important contribution to scholarship in refugee law and policy, US constitutional law, international maritime law, and international human rights law.

1. Introduction; 2. Political and historical background; 3. Authority for the exercise of jurisdiction under the United States' municipal law and the international law of the sea; 4. United States' obligations under international human rights and refugee law; 5. Status determinations in international waters and in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; 6. Detention and related issues in Guantánamo Bay; 7. Conclusion.

Azadeh Dastyari is a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Monash University, specializing in refugee and immigration law.