The Duty of Care: Protecting Citizens Abroad

Due to globalization, migration and improved private economy in many countries, more and more people are living or traveling abroad for longer or shorter periods of time. Which rights do workers, students, pensioners, tourists, and others residing abroad have, and what are the state's responsibilities when citizens come in harm's way? Apart from spectacular events like the tsunami in Thailand, terrorist attacks against the gas facility in Algeria and European cities, this topic has received scant political and academic attention. 'The Duty of Care: Protecting Citizens Abroad (DOC: Pro)' represents the first attempt at a systematic analysis of these issues and their political, legal and economic implications. Using the concept of 'the duty of care' that states and employers hold towards those under their purview, the project studied how embassies, consular institutions, ministries etc., often in cooperation with other public and private actors seek to fulfill this duty. While there are ample studies of security threats against states from abroad, DoC:PRO has focused on situations where citizens abroad rather than state interests or sovereignty are in peril. This included situations where citizens' own actions put them in danger (e.g. committing crimes), where the danger was externally imposed (e.g. natural disasters, terror) and where danger was imposed by a state's actions or policies. Foreign policy practices, such as development aid, emergency relief and military deployments may put individual citizens at risk, when and if seen as symbols of such practices or of Western interests and values. Examples include the terrorist attacks against Statoil in Algeria in 2013 and Hotel Serena in Kabul in 2008. The project explored various legal and practical opportunities and limitations for providing care outside a country's territory (such as the use of new digital tools for communication with and responsibilisation of citizens). A central theme in the project was the tensions between private freedom and business interests on the one hand, and state and societal security on the other, and how public-private partnerships affect the 'duty of care'. For instance, how do international companies enact the employer's 'duty of care' when engaging in risk-prone areas abroad? Another important topic concerned the drawing of the boundaries of the community that unleashes the 'duty of care', where geographical proximity, ethnicity and community beyond the national border played into the equation. Whereas Norway is legally and morally bound to protect Norwegians abroad, nurturing high expectations that protection will be granted, a country like Switzerland would protect its citizens abroad according to their degree of 'Swizzness'. In the question of whether Afghan interpreters who worked for allied forces in Afghanistan should be offered protection (asylum), the Danish example showed that the 'duty of care' can be stretched beyond citizenship. Similarly, Norway's assistance to convicted citizens and foreign fighters abroad shows that the duty is acted on even when citizens inflict problems on themselves. Building on these comparative studies, DoC:PRO has taken stock of lessons and investigated the opportunities and limitations for international cooperation, involving private and public actors.

Resultatene har nytteverdi for forskningsfeltet, framtidige forskningsprosjekter (ERC) og politikk. DoC:PRO har produsert ny kunnskap om: forholdet mellom staten og individet i en globalisert verden; mellomstatlig samarbeid i krisesituasjoner; nasjonal arbeidsdeling, inkludert mellom offentlig og privat sektor. Komparative studier avdekket ulik nasjonal praksis for hvordan beskyttelsesplikten utløses og implementeres. Prosjektet har beredt grunnen for teoriutvikling, deduktiv og induktiv. Begrepet 'duty of care' var fruktbart for å analysere problemstillingene knyttet til beskyttelse av borgere i utlandet ut fra politiske, moralske, rettslige og økonomiske avveininger. DoC:PRO fremmet teoridialog med felt som menneskerettigheter, internasjonal rett, risikohåndtering. Prosjektets brukergruppe (offentlig, privat) bidro med relevant informasjon og partnere hadde jevnlig kontakt med diplomater/brukere. Ift. samfunnseffekt vil prosjektet trolig informere utformingen av politikk og praksis.

How can Norwegian society best be protected, when increasing numbers of citizens are found outside the borders of the state? This is the underlying question of DoC:PRO. The project departs from the observation that a steadily increasing proportion of Nor wegian citizens are found outside the borders of Norway, and that there hardly exists any sustained conversation about how these citizens can be proactively protected or safeguarded in times of crisis. Thus, the project aims to explore how society can pre vent crises for citizens abroad, as well as how the lives and health of citizens can be safeguarded during and after crises abroad. The main challenge can be found in the partiality of existing research - while both state security and citizens abroad are discussed, there is no overarching perspective. The project thus introduces the concept of the 'duty of care', which states and other principals hold towards their subordinates, as a prism through which protection of citizens abroad can be studied. By hig hlighting a state's duties and responsibilities for protecting citizens outside of the territory, the concept represents an innovative approach to the study of new security threats, where the security of Norwegians rather than of Norway is at stake; the c oncept lends itself to understanding, explaining and demonstrating effects of territorially defined state practices, as they are exported beyond the border. Empirically, the project investigates the concept and the practice of the 'duty of care' in relati on to the diplomatic institutions which uphold them, the foreign policy practices which activate them and the public/private partnerships which negotiate them. DoC:PRO will strengthen our understanding of the challenges involved in protecting citizens abr oad, critically investigate current practices in the field, establish best practices through comparative investigations and highlight tensions between private liberties and state security.