Los derechos de los extranjeros en situación irregular: reflexiones a la luz de la práctica de los sistemas de protección derechos humanos en el ámbito europeo y americano / The Rights of Undocumented Migrants in the Light of Recent International Practice in Europe and America

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze recent developments in the protection of human rights of undocumented migrants and identify unresolved controversial issues in this field. In the current international situation, undocumented migrants continue clearly to face problems concerning their status and their rights, in particular, those who have entered the territory of the State illegally (illegal entrants) or have stayed illegally even if they initially entered legally (migrants who have stayed longer than the law or their permits allow). At the UN level, the tendency in the last twenty years has been towards a gradual development of a more precise framework regarding in particular the situation of migrant workers. Furthermore, regional bodies and regional human rights law provide general standards applicable to specific cases. In particular, the European system of human rights and the inter-American system of human rights offer mechanisms to assess the respect of the commitments by States under international human rights law. It should be pointed out that European Union has been also developing a practice to handle the situation of undocumented migrants. Thus, this paper deals with the protection of human rights of undocumented migrants in two different contexts: Europe and America, analyzing different systems: on the one hand the European Convention on Human Rights System and the European Union, and, on the other and Inter-American System. The progress in the practice of these regional systems in relation to the protection of undocumented migrant is described and the points of convergence between systems as well as controversial are highlighted.