Towards an ?International Law of Human Mobility? based on human rights. The Latinamerican experience

GARCÍA, LILA

Utrecht

Congreso; Global implications of migratory movements; 2021

Utrecht University

This paper is aimed to explore the building of an ?International Law of Human Mobility?. In doing so, it deals with the legal and political position of lives on the move and the potential based-on-human-rights contribution of recent Latin American experiences.With the arrival of migration matters to the scope of ?high politics?, it also begun a proliferation of documents from both hard and soft international sources to regulate human mobility (from human rights covenants in general, the International Convention on..Migrant Workers in particular and more recently, the Global Compact for Migration, etc., but also in the field of refugees and migrant labour). Thus, scholars would identify a new field or branch called ?International Migration Law?, defined as a framework or ?eclectic set of superimposing norms? that encompass (already existing covenants on) migrant workers, refugees, human trafficking but also consular law, criminal law and of course, human rights and humanitarian law.However, not a particular document or set of them have succeed in ?solving? the balance between rights and sovereignty, or more precisely, between foreigners? human rights and the power of states to admit or remove people from their territory. Actually, international human mobility is, precisely, international but the state?s margin of appreciation (administrative regulations, migration regimes, asylum recognition, etc.) is domestic. The very starting point even in human rights jurisprudence is the ?power? or ?right? of the State to exclude foreigners, instead of persons? rights; in Europe, it is called ?the Strasbourg reversal?.So, in that ?eclectic? or fragmented set, I consider that a cohesive approach is necessary but more importantly, the ongoing building of a new branch offers the opportunity to deeply discuss the position of persons on the move (and their rights) in front of states (and their sovereignty) in the light of recent experiences beyond Europe. In that sense, Latin America initiated in 2003 an humanistic shift (based on a human right to migrate) that may provide an interesting insight to a worldwide debate.