International Migrants Bill of Rights
Purpose
The International Migrants Bill of Rights (IMBR) creates, for the first time, a single legal framework that protects the rights of all international migrants. This framework is a tool for migrants and advocates seeking to protect the rights of migrants and for states reforming migration policy to better comply with existing international law.
The IMBR draws from various areas of international law, including human rights law, refugee law, and labor law. Inspired by the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which consolidated different areas of international law related to the treatment of internally displaced persons, the IMBR compiles this law to make clear that a comprehensive set of fundamental human rights protects all migrants. The IMBR also provides a margin of enhancement to existing law that advances positive developments in migration law and practice consistent with progressive values. In 23 articles and 80 pages of commentary, the IMBR presents a dynamic blueprint for the protection of the rights of all migrants. In contributing to both a conversation and a movement, the IMBR Initiative aims to help secure a global legal architecture for all migrants on the basis of their dignity and humanity.
International Law Landscape
International law includes two important binding agreements that address aspects of migration – the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (the “Refugee Convention and Protocol”) and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (the “Migrant Workers Convention”). The International Labor Organization (ILO) has overseen the drafting and ratification of conventions that govern labor migration. The IMBR unifies rights from these sources and from other United Nations (UN) human rights treaties to present a legal framework for the protection of the rights of all migrants.
Partners
The IMBR Initiative started in 2008 as a student-led project through Georgetown Law's Global Law Scholars Program. It has evolved over the past five years through the collaborative effort of students and scholars from Georgetown Law, the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at American University in Cairo, the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Migration Studies Unit at the London School of Economics. The Initiative is housed at Georgetown Law and the Georgetown University Institute for the Study of International Migration.
Booklet
For information on the IMBR Initiative and the core human rights that apply to all migrants, please download this booklet.
Contact
To contact the IMBR Initiative, please email imbrinitiative@gmail.com.
