The morality of closed borders: is freedom of movement a human right? : discourse and practice in the European Unions immigration policy

Abstract

The immigration policies that characterize the European Union’s member states and the general European Union’s discourse on border restrictions today seems to favour a certain type of immigrant, the one that brings economic benefits to the host country, at the expense of others. The human rights approach to immigration from the outside of the external borders, although present at both the level of the European Union and its member states, seems to have less impact on the border policies than the economic counterpart. Although constituted as an ideal community, whose essential value is freedom of movement within its territory, the European Union, in its efforts to protect the external borders from unwanted immigrants, acts in a realistic manner. The issue that needs to be analyzed relates to the consequences of these restrictive border policies on the life of immigrants, legal or illegal, and the impact of a “gated” Europe on their basic human rights, inscribed in the fundamental human rights documents. Although freedom of movement is not recognized as a fundamental and universal human right, the consequences of blocking mobility for people endangers other basic human rights; it also becomes problematic when assessing the role of immigration policies within the European Union and their observance of human rights provisions.