| dc.description.abstract | Commonly, international human migration is blamed for corroding states sovereignty,
especially stemming from policy circles, academic literature and citizens of the host
countries. This has attracted the attention of the media highlighting hazards of being a
migrant, with some countries viewing migrants as enemies; and, Cuba provides a vivid
case. Yet in other countries, migrants are viewed as important contributors to social and
economic development, with Mexico, the Dominican Republic and India serving as
examples. This article locates migrants in the framework of human rights as guided by
international law without prejudice to the demands of state sovereignty, but linking the
two in the context of developing international standards. Migration is seen as a feature of
human history dating back to primordial time. Nothing appears surprising in the
movement of people across borders, defining a migrant through emigration and
immigration while giving due respect to the sovereignty of states, both sending and
receiving. The article discusses the nexus between migrants and state sovereignty in order
to highlight the mutual benefit grounded in international law. It attempts to portray a
more positive image of the migrant person in light of the global world, socio-economic
development and human rights fundamentals. The main challenge remains that of
implementing human rights, which appear to be at the crossroads of individual rights
and state sovereignty. The paper reveals how the challenge can be overcome while
maintaining the structure of rights and freedoms without infringement on states’
sovereignty. It concludes that migrants remain on the periphery of effective protection
from the vagaries of the citizens, partly because the state has a tendency to confine
certain rights to its citizenry. States possess discretionary authority to control the ingress
of foreign nationals into their territories though sometimes they fail to do that as
evidenced by hundreds of millions of irregular migrants around the world. The paper
reveals that, the symbiotic relationship between migrants, regular or irregular, and state
sovereignty should be strengthened. | en_US |
