Legal Frameworks on Migration

The Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) is a European Union (EU)-funded initiative supporting the external dimension of EU migration policy. Launched in January 2016, the MPF supports dialogue and cooperation on migration and mobility between EU Member States and priority partner countries outside the EU.  

The MPF, currently in its fourth phase, operates mainly through grants aligned with priorities outlined in its Calls for Proposals. MPF grants cover two main thematic areas:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portuguese Government has decided that all immigrants with residence permit applications that were pending at the Aliens and Borders Office (SEF) on 18th March will receive permission for temporary residence and have access to the same rights as all other citizens, including social support. The measure also includes asylum seekers. 

This measure will remain in force until at least July 2020.

Spain offers universal access to basic health services. Beyond the most favourable scheme enjoyed by EU nationals covered by EU common legislation, all migrants staying in Spain, irrespective of legal status, have access to the basic national health system. This measure has proved its utility during the pandemic.

The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) is an inter-governmental organization of the countries in the African Great Lakes Region. Its establishment was based on the recognition that political instability and conflicts in these countries have a considerable regional dimension and thus require a concerted effort in order to promote sustainable peace and development.

Among the main divisions we find one concerning humanitarian social and environmental issues and one related to gender, women and children. 

The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, also known as Escazú Agreement, was adopted on March 4, 2018 in Escazú, Costa Rica. This treaty strengthens the link between human rights and environmental defense by posing obligations on the States parties, regarding the protection of environmental human rights defenders. Thus, the Escazú Agreement promotes a four-pillar model of environmental democracy.

On January 9, 2023, Chile and Colombia signed a joint advisory opinion request to be presented before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), aiming to clarify the scope of the state obligations for responding to the climate emergency under the frame of international human rights law. The request acknowledged the human rights effects of the climate emergency, especially highlighting the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems in Latin America. In this line, Colombia and Chile emphasized the need for regional standards to accelerate action to confront climate change. 

In February 2021, the Colombian government launched the Temporary Protection Status (Estatuto Temporal de Protección para Migrantes Venezolanos, or ETPV), a legal mechanism which facilitates the transition of migrants from an emergency migratory regime to a regularization status, granting access to formal employment, education, healthcare, and financial services for almost two million Venezuelan migrants and refugees. 

The Climate Parliament is an international multi-partisan network of legislators working to combat climate change and protect the living planet

The Climate Parliament is a global multi-partisan network of legislators working to inform and mobilise Members of Parliament and Congress to take action on the climate emergency and protect the living planet. It focuses particularly on the small number of MPs who are ready to exercise leadership in their parliaments on this issue.

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum is a set of regulations and policies to create a fairer, efficient, and more sustainable migration and asylum process for the European Union. The Pact, which was proposed in September 2020 and agreed between the European Parliament and the Council in December 2023, is designed to manage and normalise migration for the long term, providing certainty, clarity and decent conditions for people arriving in the EU. It also establishes a common approach to migration and asylum that is based on solidarity, responsibility, and respect for human rights.