La Strada Documentation Center

Migration and the Right to Health: A Review of International Law. International Migration Law No. 19.

Document number
2317
Date
2009
Title
Migration and the Right to Health: A Review of International Law. International Migration Law No. 19.
Author/publisher
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Guidelines/Recommendations, International Law,
Keywords
Irregular Migration, Feminization of migration, Economic migration, Labour migration, Free movement, Undocumented migrants; Undocumented labour; Migrant rights; Migration management; Comprehensive approach to migration; Migration policy; Restrictive migration measures,
Summary
The present study concerns the heterogeneous group of individuals involved in the migration process. They include: migrants, be they in a regular or an irregular situation including the victims of smuggling, or intending a long or short term stay; victims of trafficking in persons; asylum seekers;refugees; displaced persons and others in need of international protection and assistance. Collectively, all these categories of individuals are referred to, in this publication, as migrating persons.

The objective of this publication is primarily to promote respect by the State for the right to health for those who migrate. Secondly, the publication aims more generally at guiding health and legal practitioners, students, academics, and those migrating themselves through the myriad of norms and principles contained in international instruments impacting on migrating persons' right to health. It includes both binding and non-binding instruments, or excerpts thereof. A short definition of the instruments' legal force and effect precedes the excerpts. There is a brief introduction on migrating persons' right to health and its international protection guaranteed by the various norms applying to those who migrate. The instruments are divided into two sections: general and specific. The first section includes relevant human rights instruments whose guarantees are not reserved for nationals or a specific group of people, but apply to all individuals, nationals and non-nationals alike. The second section examines the right to health of specific categories of individuals involved in the migration process.
Related documents