Bordering Rights: The globalised double standards of visa regimes
November 2024
- Theme: Global South Women's Forum, Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Visa Inequalities.
- Type: Proceedings Report.
- Region/Country: Afghanistan, Global, Malaysia, Switzerland, Uganda, United States of America.
- Language: English.
“It takes less than a century, it seems, to see the absence of freedom as a natural condition” – Speranta Dumitru, ‘When World Leaders Thought You Shouldn’t Need Passports or Visas’, The Conversation, 27 September 2016.
In today’s interconnected world, everyone should have the freedom to travel and pursue opportunities, regardless of nationality or origin. However, the introduction of visa requirements barely a century ago has led to a global system which normalises, perpetuates, and profits from systemic inequalities. This panel discussion, held at Global South Women’s Forum 2023: Border CTRL, discussed how visa apartheid affects global mobility, economic opportunities, access to safety, and the fundamental principles of equality and justice; while visa conditionalities restrict access to decent work conditions and impact the right to family life, among other injustices. The session also addressed the inflexible bureaucracies which have a disproportionate hold over people on the move.
The session transcript is available to view as a web page, Word document or PDF.