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Tamara Manuel MA Thesis Daisy Edits The Spirit of Cartagena: Ecuadorian Immigration and Asylum Policy under Rafael Correa, 2007-2017 Tamara Manuel 6343899 Master Thesis International Relations in Historical Perspective July 2019 Supervisor: Dr. Ozan Ozavci Word Count: 14,987 AUTHOR Tamara Manuel [email protected] 6143899 SUPERVISOR Dr. Ozan Ozavci Academic Year 2018-2019 International Relations in Historical Perspective Faculty of Humanities Utrecht University Abstract This thesis focuses on the immigration and asylum policies of Ecuador during the presidency of Rafael Correa 2007-2017. Latin America has been neglected in the field of migration studies but the ongoing mass migration on the continent means that it warrants further study. Using official statements and press releases from the Ecuadorian Ministry of External Relations and Human Mobility, it applies two strands of neo-institutionalist theory, rational choice institutionalism and international institutionalism, to understand and account for the instability of immigration and asylum policymaking during this period. Considering international and domestic institutions and their impact on immigration and asylum policymaking during Correa’s presidency, this thesis argues that international institutions were too weak to determine national immigration and asylum policy. Instead, the structure of domestic institutions ensured that power was contained within the executive branch which implemented policies based on the principle of reciprocity and bilateral relations with migrant producing and receiving states. Keywords: asylum, immigration, migration, Ecuador, institutionalism The Spirit of Cartagena: Ecuadorian Immigration and Asylum Policy under Rafael Correa i The Spirit of Cartagena: Ecuadorian Immigration and Asylum Policy under Rafael Correa ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Ozan Ozavci for his guidance and unwavering support even as I moved 9,000 kilometres away to Mexico City during the writing process. His patience and insight, especially in the very early stages, have shaped this thesis into what it is today. I would also like to thank my wonderful colleagues in the department of Forced Internal Displacement at the Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos [Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights]: Lígia de Aquino Barbosa Magalhães, Montserrat Castillo Portillo, Brenda Gabriela Pérez Vázquez and Paula Pacheco Soto. Their understanding and encouragement as I interned alongside writing has been invaluable. Tamara Manuel July 2019 The Spirit of Cartagena: Ecuadorian Immigration and Asylum Policy under Rafael Correa iii The Spirit of Cartagena: Ecuadorian Immigration and Asylum Policy under Rafael Correa iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... iii List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 a. Scope and Research Objective .................................................................................. 5 b. Historiography ......................................................................................................... 6 c. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................ 10 d. Methodology ............................................................................................................. 12 e. Structural Overview ................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 1. Ecuador as a Case Study ....................................................................................... 16 a. El Correísmo ............................................................................................................. 17 b. Ecuadorian Emigration ............................................................................................ 18 c. Regional Institutions ................................................................................................ 19 d. Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 20 Chapter 2. International and Regional Institutions ............................................................... 22 a. Cooperation in Anarchy? ......................................................................................... 22 b. The Importance of Migration within Regional Institutions ..................................... 23 c. The Institutional Weaknesses of Regional Organisations ....................................... 25 d. The Organisation of American States ...................................................................... 28 e. Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 30 Chapter 3. Domestic Institutions ............................................................................................. 32 a. The Delegative Democracy of Rafael Correa .......................................................... 32 b. The Montecristi Constitution of 2008 ...................................................................... 34 c. Bilateral Relations with Colombia ........................................................................... 36 d. The Principle of Reciprocity .................................................................................... 40 e. Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 42 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 44 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 47 a. Published Primary Sources ...................................................................................... 47 b. Ministry of External Relations and Human Mobility .............................................. 47 c. Laws, Decrees and International Agreements ......................................................... 49 d. Election Results ....................................................................................................... 50 e. Newspaper Sources .................................................................................................. 50 f. Secondary Literature ................................................................................................ 52 The Spirit of Cartagena: Ecuadorian Immigration and Asylum Policy under Rafael Correa v List of Abbreviations ALBA Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos Our America de Nuestra América Alianza PAÍS Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Patria Altiva i Soberana Alliance CELAC Community of Latin American and Comunidad de Estados Caribbean States Latinoamericanos y Caribeños CC Constitutional Court FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia Colombia IACHR Inter-American Commission of Human Rights IADB Inter-American Development Bank IOM International Organization for Migration MERCOSUR Southern Common Market Mercado Común del Sur MREMH Ministry of External Relations and Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Human Mobility Movilidad Humana NGO Non-Governmental Organisation OAS Organization of American States OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development SENAMI National Secretariat of the Migrant Secretaría Nacional del Migrante UNASUR Union of South American Nations Unión de Naciones Suramericanas UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees U.S. United States of America The Spirit of Cartagena: Ecuadorian Immigration and Asylum Policy under Rafael Correa vi The Spirit of Cartagena: Ecuadorian Immigration and Asylum Policy under Rafael Correa vii Introduction Speaking at the 57th Lecture of the Americas in 2015 at the end of his term as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Portuguese politician and diplomat António Guterres lavished praise on the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS), a majority of which are Latin American. He said that “the Latin American region is an example for the rest of the world in the solidarity it shows with people fleeing violence and persecution” and cited some members as having “the best, most progressive asylum systems in the world, and a strong tradition of protection that has few parallels elsewhere.”1 His speech celebrated the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees of 1984, a landmark declaration adopted in the wake of the Central American refugee crisis. Guterres claimed that it “pioneered a holistic view of refugee, human rights and humanitarian protection combined, underscoring the critical importance of regional cooperation among governments, international organizations, and civil society.”2 It expanded the definition of ‘refugee’ contained within the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees to include ‘persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety or
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