Harmonização de normas e procedimentos de refúgio no Mercosul

Abstract

Mercosul’s creation occurred within a broader process of trade and economic integration that unfolded throughout Latin America in the early 1990s. Since the turn of the 21st century, the economic agenda has been tied to social issues and matters of migration and asylum started to occupy a larger scope in the institution. Hereupon, the focus of this research is the harmonization process of norms and procedures for the recognition of refugee status, which is closely linked to the deepening of economic integration and the expansion of border porosity in the region. This dissertation analyzes how the harmonization of norms and procedures of asylum ensued in Mercosul and the unveiling of the incorporation process in the six countries that signed the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro in the year 2000: Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile. The depleted hypothesis was that the commitment to the harmonization of norms and procedures of asylum, established by the Mercosul since the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro, caused changes in the asylum legislations of the member and associate signatory countries. It’s made an attempt to demonstrate how this occurred from the records analysis from the official meetings of the Specialized Migration Forum (2000-2014) and the assessment of asylum legislation in the respective countries. The results found showed that there was a harmonization based on minimum normative standards, regnant in the Brazilian legislation since 1997, which were incorporated by the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro and absorbed by the members and associate signatory countries.