States Obligations to Individuals Beyond their Borders – a Post-Colonial Perspective

This study’s plea is to call for immediate incorporation of a postcolonial outlook with addition of ethics and Marxism into the understanding of the relationship between states and individuals. It uses theoretical ideas of ethics, morality, economic oppression and postcolonialism in international relations in order to argue for the equality of all people in relation to one another despite the inherently hierarchical relations that are in place between the Global North and South. Fundamentally, this work opens up a case for the exploration of ideas of open borders and the inherent right of all humans to state protection arguing that colonial states have responsibilities towards their former colonies. The case study provides an outlook on the pair of countries: the Netherlands and Suriname and is is illustrative of the huge impact restricted border control has on the relationship between states as well as welfare, migration flows and long-term trends of societal relations within both the metropole and ex-colony.