The establishment of human rights standards and their promotion

INTRODUCTION

The establishment of human rights standards and their promotion has been a key part of the struggles undertaken by the international organization like the United Nations and the European Union since the end of the second world war. This has been, in part, due to the identification of the elements related to these human rights, the absence of which had been the main precursor of the second world war despite the efforts undertaken by the world powers to avoid another global conflict so soon after the end of the first world war. It would be justified to say that the main reason for the second world war had been the inferiority of the German nation and their frustration due to the sanctions and limitations imposed upon them that had led to the communist ideology taking over the nation as a whole and leading to the conflicts that arose in the name of freedom and swept the world in part due to the escalation of such sentiments into the ones of vengeance for the perceived injustice against them. The end of the cold war just served as an acceleration point for the efforts in the ever-growing movement of improved human rights and one such right that had been introduced and has been discussed greatly is the freedom of movement as a fundamental human right for everyone. It would not be wrong to say that one of the core ideologies of the existence of the EU and the US has been the principal of the freedom of movement for the masses and the people at large[1]. But the debate is still continuing. Especially, with the matter of the national and global security in the matters regarding terrorism and the measures taken to reduce the Covid-19 impact have just served to spark another flame in regards to the topic. The purpose of this paper is to explore the existence and extent of the freedom of movement as fundamental human right in practice and theory.

DISCUSSION:

In the discussions held at the IUAES world congress in 2013, it was held that a true free movement of the human population at the global stage would be akin to a utopia[2]. This just goes on to show that such free movement is not possible in a true world due to many variables being present. The main precursor for the efforts undertaken can be found by accessing the UN declaration in regards to the protection of the free movement rights of the workers and their families as these are necessary for their social and psychological welfare and also poses an obligation on the member nations to accommodate any and all the immigrants that are moving from turbulent regions for the fear of their life and safety[3]. The US and the EU have gone against their own principals of free movement by implementing anti-Covid -19 restrictions by preventing cross-border movement which has faced heavy criticism but may not be as much deserved due to the circumstances involved. But these have proven to have grave consequences in regards to free movement obligation of the member states that have failed to provide shelter for refugees[4].

Despite the ideology of the free movement across the border of the member states, the application of this principal among the member states of the European Union and especially the UK has been a huge challenge. This is in part due to different and at times contradictory EU and national policy in regards to movement with and among the member states. One such problem is borne from the residence rights that provide a need to distinguish the migrants between “good” and “bad” that provides its own fir share of discrimination issues in itself[5].

[1] Jaya Ramji-Nogales & Iris Goldner Lang, Freedom of movement, migration, and borders, Journal of Human Rights, 19:5, 593-602, (2020) DOI: 10.1080/14754835.2020.1830045

[2] Simone Abram, Bela Feldman Bianco, Shahram Khosravi, Noel Salazar, and Nicholas de Genova, The free movement of people around the world would be Utopian: IUAES World Congress 2013: Evolving Humanity, Emerging Worlds, 5–10 August 2013. Identities, 24(2) (2017), pp.123-155.

[3] UN, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. (1990) https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CMW.aspx [Assessed 10 January, 2022]

[4] Jaya Ramji-Nogales & Iris Goldner Lang, Freedom of movement, migration, and borders, Journal of Human Rights, 19:5, 593-602, (2020) DOI: 10.1080/14754835.2020.1830045

[5] Jo Shaw, Nina Miller Westoby and Maria Fletcher, Tensions between EU and UK Law are having a negative effect on the free movement of EU citizens. LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) Blog. (2013)…..