Deportation and the liberal state: the forcible return of asylum seekers and unlawful migrants in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom

This article is based on interviews with government officials, UNHCR staff and members of the NGO community in Bonn (2 February 1999), Ottawa (5–8 December 2000), Berlin (2 February and 24 May 2001) and [with British officials] Oxford (3 May 2001). Earlier versions were presented at the International Studies Association’s Annual meeting, Chicago, 23 February 2001, at the Council of European Studies Biannual meeting, Chicago, 14 February 2002 and at the Catholic University of Brussels, Institute of Political Sociology and Methodology’s seminar series, Brussels, 11 April 2002. We are grateful to participants for comments. The research was assisted by a grant from the Canadian Department of International Affairs and International Trade in association with the Foundation for Canadian Studies in the UK.