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No Way In or Out: Authoritarian Controls on the Freedom of Movement [1]

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Date: 2024-08

The right to free movement

Freedom of movement is a fundamental human right enshrined in international law. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state” and “everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.” This right underpins prohibitions against arbitrary detention, exile, and deprivation of nationality, and provides a foundation for the right to seek asylum. It is echoed in binding international agreements that the majority of the world’s countries have signed, such as Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which identifies the right of everyone to enter and exit his or her home country.

Under Article 12, governments have the duty to facilitate freedom of movement by providing people with travel documents, such as passports. Numerous international and regional conventions also prohibit practices that prevent people from returning to their home country, including de facto or de jure denationalization and forced exile.

International law outlines reasonable limits on the freedom of movement, provided that they are necessary and proportional. States may restrict this right based on legitimate grounds of “national security, public order, public health or morals, and the rights and freedoms of others.” However, restrictions based on “race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin…” are not allowed. The practices outlined in this report, including revocation of citizenship, control over documents like passports, refusal of consular services, and travel bans, are applied arbitrarily against individuals and groups that regimes perceive to be threats, including political opponents, human rights activists, or journalists, or by virtue of their ethnic, religious, or gender identity. Such tactics are a clear violation of human rights.

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[1] Url: https://freedomhouse.org/report/transnational-repression/2024/no-way-or-out-authoritarian-controls-freedom-movement

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