Bio
Stephen Phillips is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Human Rights, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. His research examines state responses to forced migration, specifically the prevention of access to asylum. He is currently working on two projects, one that looks at the implications of the EU following Australia's model for preventing entry of asylum seekers, and another that examines the mental health impact of immigration detention on children in terms of international human rights law.
His thesis title is “Deterrence, exclusion and human rights: extraterritorial responses to asylum seekers and the role of international law” – supervisor: Elina Pirjatanniemi – Åbo Akademi University, 2017-2021.
Stephen has previously worked in casework and advocacy roles in both the government and non-government sectors with asylum seekers in Australia and with victims of forced displacement in Colombia.
Recent Publications
- Phillips, Stephen and Del Gaudio, Eleonora, “Detention of child asylum seekers in the pursuit of state interests: a comparison of the Australian and EU approaches”, in Nordic Journal of Human Rights, Vol.36, pp.1-18, 2018.
- Phillips, Stephen, “Detention, mental health and human rights: the impact of Australia’s mandatory immigration detention regime on children”, in Jahrbuch Ethik in der Klinik 10, pp. 291-296, 2017.
- Phillips, Stephen, “Establishing Arbitrariness”, in Forced Migration Review, No. 44, p. 9, 2013.