Migrant Remittances and Rights to Physical Integrity: A Cross-section Study of Latin America (1981-2014)

Abstract

This article analyzes aspects of two ubiquitous phenomena in contemporary societies: migration and violations of rights to physical integrity. It focuses on violations of rights to physical integrity, such as torture and political assassination, that take place in the countries that migrants leave behind (home countries). This paper explores the association between migration and violent political repression via one observable aspect of migration: transfers of sums of money from migrants to individuals in their home countries. These transfers are called remittances. This article engages with the growing literature on remittances to ask whether remittances influence the protection of rights to physical integrity within migrant-sending countries. An analysis of 21 Latin American countries between 1981 and 2014 shows that remittances are associated with less protection of rights to physical integrity. Our empirical analysis reveals this unintended effect of remittances, which is mediated by political protests and elections. A case study of Haiti illustrates the association between peaks of remittances and repression.