The Nicaraguan revolution of 1978 and the subsequent violence engulfing the Central American states, causes mass migration of Latin American persons seeking territorial asylum. Latin American States and Political Refugees focuses on the questions surrounding this new problem of refugees. Yundt uses regime analysis, a method whereby principles, norms, and social institutions are studied to identify the general obligations due refugees. The central concern of this study is whether the regional rules, norms, procedures and social institutions established by the Latin American states in governing political refugees, are compatible with or dissimilar to those of the established United Nations refugees regime. This scholarly written and well researched book will appeal to students and scholars of international organizations, international refugee and human rights law, as well as all the social and political sciences. Yundt begins his study with an explanation of the meaning of 'regime'; What is a regime analysis? This book examines the history and current status of colonization and immigration legislation in Central and South America. Further chapters discuss the role of international organizations, including the League of Nations and the organization of American states, in providing international legal protection to refugees. The study also explores the global refugee regime; its history and how it relates to the inter-American system.

Looking at refugee protection in Latin America, this landmark edited collection assesses what the region has achieved in recent years. It analyses Latin America’s main documents in refugee protection, evaluates the particular aspects of different regimes, and reviews their emergence, development and effect, to develop understanding of refugee protection in the region. Drawing from multidisciplinary texts from both leading academics and practitioners, this comprehensive, innovative and highly topical book adopts an analytical framework to understand and improve Latin America’s protection of refugees.

This book reveals how migrants shape the politics of their countries of origin, drawing on research from Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador and their diasporas, the three largest in Latin America. Luis Jiménez discusses the political changes that result when migrants return to their native countries in person and also when they send back new ideas and funds—social and economic “remittances”—through transnational networks. Using a combination of rich quantitative analysis and eye-opening interviews, Jiménez finds that migrants have influenced areas such as political participation, number of parties, electoral competitiveness, and presidential election results. Interviews with authorities in Mexico reveal that migrants have inspired a demand for increased government accountability. Surveys from Colombia show that neighborhoods that have seen high degrees of migration are more likely to participate in local politics and also vote for a wider range of parties at the national level. In Ecuador, he observes that migration is linked to more competitive local elections as well as less support for representatives whose policies censor the media. Jiménez also draws attention to government services that would not exist without the influence of migrants. Looking at the demographics of these migrating populations along with the size and density of their social networks, Jiménez identifies the circumstances in which other diasporas—such as those of south Asian and African countries—have the most potential to impact the politics of their homelands.

In 'Migrants and Political Change in Latin America', Luis Jiménez looks at how migrants are changing the politics of their country of origin. It argues that migrants can do this in three distinct ways: through social remittances, economic remittances, and the presence of return migrants.

The legal status of the institution of diplomatic asylum really presents two separate questions. (I) Is there evidence that states have regarded the practice of granting such asylum to political refugees as sanctioned by a rule of international law? (2) Assuming this to be the case, does the available evidence make it possible to define a "political refugee" and to determine which party to a dispute has the right to decide upon this question? While in many cases the two questions are not dearly separated in the discussions between the parties involved, they will be treated separately in the following pages. Part one will attempt to answer this question: Assuming the political nature of an offence can be establish ed, is there evidence that states have regarded the practice of granting diplomatic asylum as sanctioned by a rule of international law? Obviously, the two questions cannot be separated entirely but it seems advisable to try to isolate them as much as possible. CHAPTER I NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM The term "asylum" is used to identify such a variety of phenomena that the following distinctions must be made before the problem can be properly discussed I. Between diplomatic and territorial asylum. The importance of this distinction was pointed out by the International Court of Justice in the Colombian-Peruvian Asylum Case,l often referred to as the Haya de la Torre Case.

This volume focuses on Jewish, Arab, non-Latin European, Asian, and Latin American immigrants and their experiences in their “new” homes. Rejecting exceptionalist and homogenizing tendencies within immigration history, contributors advocate instead an approach that emphasizes the locally- and nationally-embedded nature of ethnic identification.

Tells the story of the 20th-century Central American migration, and how domestic and foreign policy interests shaped the asylum policies of Mexico, the United States, and Canada.