Colombia Internacional (Sep 2016)

Las migraciones, al amparo del régimen internacional de los Derechos Humanos. Utopías concurrentes

  • Luisa Gabriela Morales Vega

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7440/colombiaint88.2016.09
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 88
pp. 213 – 229

Abstract

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The article reflects on the limitations of the international human rights regime in relation to transnational migrations, by identifying utopias that coexist within it. Based on an analysis of the fundamental documents of said regime, it identifies, in the first place, its iusnaturalist character, since it is founded on reason, awareness, and the recognition of human beings among themselves. This utopia is characterized not only by the abstract personification of human beings, but above all by attributing these same qualities to the State. The second utopia lies in the idea of universality of the regime, in establishing that human rights are recognized for all persons without exception, regardless of their nationality, citizenship or migratory condition. Finally, the third utopia is identified with the State’s activity of incorporating an ample catalogue of human rights within its laws, including at the constitutional level, while at the same time enacting restrictive and discriminatory legislation, with the understanding that it is thus possible to discourage, restrict, or transform mass phenomena such as migration, the causes of which are highly varied and extralegal in character, a fact that demonstrates the paradox of conceiving of human beings as being fixed in nature.

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