Juridical status and rights of irregular migrants in an international comparative perspective: The normative realities of Brazil and Italy

 ABSTRACT: Juridical status and rights of irregular migrants in an international comparative perspective: the normative realities of Brazil and Italy.

(Sofia Ciuffoletti - Adriana Dias Vieira)

The aim of this paper is to analyze the legal status of irregular migrants – either free or as prisoners – in the perspective of comparative law, in order to confront the level of social security granted to irregular migrants  in two different, yet comparable, national realities, Brazil and in Italy. In both countries, the pattern of migration flows and incarceration rate of irregular migrants has changed significantly in the last ten years, even if to a different degree and starting from diverse political and social contexts. The relevance of this study lies in the comparison between two complex normative realities. Traditionally, in Italy, the issue of irregular migration has pervaded the political agenda – and is going to be a core-issue in this time of economic crisis – while in Brazil, the international contemporary migration, is seen as a new phenomenon, as a result of the recent economic growth. From a legal standpoint, this study should emphasizes the analysis of both national legal order and the jurisprudential trends issued by the two regional systems of human rights protection, to which Italy and Brazil are submitted: the Inter-American system of human rights (IACHR) and the European system of human rights (ECHR), specifically underlining the judicial borrowing and interaction between the two courts. Both national and international courts, in the two countries, have been called to adjudicate on the legal status of the irregular migrants, defining their rights, particularly in the field of social, economic, cultural rights.