An Introduction to the Freemove Project

Governments worldwide enter into a variety of treaties to regulate the movement of people, which either impose restrictions or facilitate mobility. However, the treaties facilitating movement are not properly categorized. Instead, scholars and policymakers often group them together under the broad umbrella of free movement. Following the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), it has become necessary to carefully distinguish between three categories: free movement regimes (FMRs), visa liberalization regimes (VLRs), and labor mobility schemes (LMS). The Freemove Project, supported in part through a grant from the Open Society Foundations, is the first to comprehensively map, analyze, and compare all bilateral and multilateral free movement of people regimes at the global level. This website presents the results of this effort, led by Professor Diego Acosta and the work of Dr. Luuk van der Baaren, Senior Researcher. Users can access information about each regime, see how they have evolved over the last 30 years, compare them with others, and assess trends in this crucial area that affects the rights of millions of people in situations of human mobility.

Any use of the information on this website can be cited as: Diego Acosta and Luuk van der Baaren (2024), Freemove Project, Free Movement Regimes Dataset: Indicators on entry, residence, rights, and security of residence, www.freemovehub.com