Asia, Pacific and North America

Introduction

Free movement regimes primarily exist in Africa, the Caribbean, Eurasia, Europe, and South America. However, the Freemove Project has also identified several regimes elsewhere in the world, particularly five bilateral agreements and one multilateral agreement. The five bilateral agreements are between Australia and New Zealand; India and Nepal; and the USA with the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau, respectively.

At the multilateral level, the only regime identified is the Gulf Cooperation Council. However, many other regional organisations, including the Central American Integration System (SICA in its Spanish acronym, Art. 18, 1993 Guatemala Protocol) or the League of Arab States (Art. 1, 1957 Agreement For Economic Unity Among Arab League States), among others, aim to introduce rules for the free movement of people according to their foundational treaties but have not yet adopted them. The Freemove project does not assess these organisations whose relationship with free movement is merely aspirational.

FURTHER READING

S. Nita et al. (eds), Migration, Free Movement and Regional Integration (UNESCO 2017).

In July 1950, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal was adopted. This agreement is a bilateral treaty aimed at promoting the safety, security, friendship, and cultural and economic prosperity of both nations, and it includes provisions for the free movement of people.

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Located in the Pacific Ocean, the Republic of Palau is an island nation that maintains a unique political, economic, and military relationship with the United States through a bilateral Compact of Free Association (COFA). For over 40 years, the COFA has facilitated free movement between Palau and the United States. Palauan citizens can travel without a visa or additional permit authorisations to the United States to work, live, and study. Similarly, U.S. citizens can travel, live, study, and invest in Palau with no visa restrictions, although work authorisation is subject to local regulations. These provisions have remained unchanged since the COFA's implementation.

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Located in the Pacific Ocean, the Federated States of Micronesia is an island nation that maintains a unique political, economic, and military relationship with the United States through a bilateral Compact of Free Association (COFA). For over 40 years, the COFA has facilitated free movement between Micronesia and the United States. Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia can travel to the United States without a visa or additional permit authorisation to work, live, or study. Similarly, U.S. citizens can travel, live, study, and invest in Micronesia with no visa restrictions, although work authorisation is subject to local regulations. These provisions have remained unchanged since the COFA's implementation.

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Located in the Pacific Ocean, the Marshall Islands are an island nation that maintains a unique political, economic, and military relationship with the United States through a bilateral Compact of Free Association (COFA). For over 40 years, the COFA has facilitated free movement between the Marshall Islands and the United States. Citizens of the Marshall Islands can travel without a visa or additional permit authorisation to the United States to work, live, and study. Similarly, U.S. citizens can travel, live, study, and invest in the Marshall Islands with no visa restrictions, although work authorisation is subject to local regulations. These provisions have remained unchanged since the COFA's implementation.

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The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA) is an arrangement between Australia and New Zealand which allows for the free movement of citizens between the two countries. Introduced in 1973, it merely codified the existing reality, as citizens had already enjoyed unrestricted travel since British colonisation decades earlier (Lockhart & Money 2011: 51). While the existing free travel between Australia and New Zealand was encouraged by the countries’ geographical, cultural and colonial links, the TTTA was largely a response to the broader imposition of travel restrictions within the British Commonwealth, which prompted the formalisation and strengthening of the two countries’ relationship (Lockhart & Money 2011: 54).

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Established on 4 February 1981, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf—commonly known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—is primarily a regional, intergovernmental political and economic union comprising six hydrocarbon-rich states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The initial diplomatic efforts to formally establish the GCC union began in the early 1970s, culminating in the creation of the GCC Charter in 1981, which emphasised the formation of GCC states and highlighted their shared heritage.

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