For an unrestricted right to migration
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Theses on the current problems
1. migration is a survival strategy for people in emergency, disaster and war areas or a strategy to improve their living situation.
2. migration movements are the consequence of resource scarcity, one-sided consumption of resources by Western Europe and North America as well as the emerging countries like China or India, the emergence of new economic needs and the destruction of traditional ecological balances
3. migration has been and continues to be an integral part and consequence of economic development and has both positive and negative effects on the regions of emigration.
4. migration takes place to a considerable extent within and between the countries of the southern hemisphere.
5. migration benefits the countries of immigration.
6. migration cannot be prevented by nation-state means such as border closures or repression, but can only be criminalized.
7. migrants are disadvantaged, discriminated against or even forced into illegality in many countries - and they have only a part of their rights in the country of immigration.
Ideas for possible solutions
- For a worldwide right to migration and free settlement
- For comprehensive voting and electoral rights for all people in their place of residence, regardless of their nationality
- Ensuring a legal hearing for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees
- Duty to protect asylum seekers and refugees in the host country in the event of attacks on life, liberty, property and massive violations of the dignity of migrants and those seeking protection,
- Enabling and ensuring a dignified way of life and livelihood for all
Discussion
There are very different theories on migration. It is important to note that migration and flight can be triggered by very different factors, often the causes of migration and flight are multifactorial and dynamic. War, poverty, unemployment, environmental disasters, or simply the desire for a better life can cause people to leave their home country or region. Various factors and dimensions play a role in migration. For a significant proportion of migrants, migration means living simultaneously or periodically in more than one place - or the simultaneous residence of some family members in the country of origin and some family members in the country of immigration. That is why transnational spaces and bilocality play an important role in migration. In addition, there are structural and cyclical developments in the country of emigration as well as in the country of immigration, but also dynamics within the migration group. Furthermore, historical circumstances play a role. Thus, the sentence of Jean-Christophe Rufin (1991:67) "C'est la frontière qui fait le réfugié" could also be applied to migrants: Migrants become foreigners through national borders. Borders express a claim of states on persons-or in the words of Dimitry Kochenov (2015:144)-the idea that persons "belong" to states. Borders divide geographical spaces into two spaces separate from each other - and restrict or even abolish the freedom of movement between them. Therefore, a general right to migrate and settle freely means nothing more than that every person is free to choose where to live and reside.
Concepts of exclusive nationality in one country are not very suitable in transnational migration spaces. Alternatives could be: Dual or multiple citizenships in both or in several countries. Better, however, would be the granting of full political, economic and social rights - such as voting and electoral rights - in the respective place of living or main residence. In doing so, the person in question could decide in which place they want to exercise their citizenship rights. Thus, Faist, Gerdes and Rieple (2008:101) see the spread of dual citizenship on the one hand as a precursor of cosmopolitan citizenship and on the other hand as an extension of human rights.
Forum
Cited Literature
- Faist, Thomas / Gerdes, Jürgen / Rieple, Beate
2008: Dual Citizenship as a Path-dependent Process. In: Portes, Alejandro / DeWind, Josh (Hrsg.): Rethinking Migration. New Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. New York / Oxford: Berghahn Books.
- Kochenov, Dimitry
2015: The Right to Leave Any Country Including One’s Own. In: Plender, Richard (Hrsg.): Issues in International Migration Law. Leiden / Boston: Brill Nijhoff. 143 – 177.
- Rufin, Jean-Christophe
1991: L'Empire et les Nouveaux Barbares. Editions Jean-Claude Lattès.