Toggle navigation menu.

Freedom of Movement

All OSCE participating States have committed themselves to respect the internationally recognized human rights to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state, as well as to leave any country, including one’s own. In the 1990 Copenhagen Document, the states also affirmed that “freer contacts among their citizens are important in the context of the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”  Freedom of movement was an especially salient issue during Communist times, when the Soviet Union and other Soviet-dominated countries severely limited emigration, family reunification, family visits and other human contacts.  While respect for freedom of movement has come a long way since then, the right to leave and return to one’s country still eludes many citizens in the OSCE region. Several OSCE participating States inhibit external and internal movement through exit visa regimes and other mechanisms that frequently target activists, human rights defenders and political opposition figures.

Throughout the decades, the Commission has addressed violations of freedom of movement in various participating States, in hearings and briefings, meetings with representatives of governments and parliaments of countries of concern, statements, letters and other venues. The Commission has also contributed to official U.S. efforts to raise freedom of movement violations, including statements at the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Review meetings. 

Category
Country
Issue
Date
Filter Topics Open Close
Briefings

Saving Ukraine’s Children

Dec 14, 2022

Ukraine’s children are suffering serious injury and trauma due to Russia’s genocidal war on Ukraine. Almost two-thirds of the country’s children have been displaced. Thousands have been injured and, although UNICEF has said more than 1,000 children have been killed, that number is likely much higher as there is no reliable way to verify how […]

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

Helsinki Commission Delegation Advances Priority Iss...

Jul 15, 2021

WASHINGTON—Helsinki Commission Chairman Sen. Ben Cardin (MD) and Ranking Member Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) last week led a U.S. delegation to the 2021 OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) Annual Session in Vienna, Austria. The assembly was the first major gathering with an in-person component since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The 2021 […]

screen-reader-text
Logo_tile_368x331
Press Releases

Helsinki Commission Commemorates 45 Years of Advanci...

Jun 03, 2021

WASHINGTON—To commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, on June 3, Chairman Sen. Ben Cardin (MD) and commission leaders Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) and Rep. Joe Wilson (SC-02) issued the following statements: “The Helsinki Commission has played a vital role in elevating […]

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

Helsinki Commission Condemns Lukashenko Regime for F...

May 24, 2021

WASHINGTON—Following Alexander Lukashenko’s order to divert and forcibly land a commercial plane in Minsk in order to arrest Belarusian activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich and civil society activist Sofia Sapega, Helsinki Commission Chairman Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), Commission leaders Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) and Rep. Joe Wilson (SC-02), and Commissioner Richard Hudson (NC-08) issued the […]

screen-reader-text
Articles

Coronavirus in the OSCE Region

Oct 30, 2020

By Emma Derr, Max Kampelman Fellow A novel coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Termed COVID-19, the disease spread rapidly around the globe. As of October 2020, 1.18 million people have died from COVID-19, and over 227,000 of these deaths have occurred in the United States. COVID-19 is one of the […]

screen-reader-text
OSCE PA logo 368x331
Statements

ONGOING TRANSATLANTIC ENGAGEMENT THROUGH THE OSCE PA...

Sep 24, 2020

Mr. HUDSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight my recent efforts to engage with our allies across Europe to address the current political turmoil in Belarus and seek a way forward. On September 23, I joined a video call of the leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in […]

screen-reader-text
OSCE Credit Curtis Budden 368x331
Press Releases

Hastings: Petty Parochialism Denies OSCE Vital Leade...

Jul 14, 2020

WASHINGTON—Following yesterday’s failure of OSCE representatives to renew the mandates of four leadership positions—the OSCE Secretary General, the High Commissioner on National Minorities, the Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights—Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) issued the following statement: “We are […]

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

Wicker and Cardin Commend United Kingdom Magnitsky S...

Jul 07, 2020

WASHINGTON—Following the recent designations under the United Kingdom’s Magnitsky sanctions framework of Russian and Saudi officials responsible for the deaths of Sergei Magnitsky and Jamal Khashoggi, Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) and Ranking Member Sen. Ben Cardin (MD) released the following statement: “We are encouraged to see the United Kingdom applying its first-ever […]

screen-reader-text
Publications

Human Rights and Democracy in a Time of Pandemic

May 12, 2020

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic has prompted governments around the world to take extraordinary measures in the interest of public health and safety. As of early April, nearly two-thirds of the 57 participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had declared “states of emergency” or invoked similar legal measures […]

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

Wicker and Cardin Urge Pompeo to Work with EU High R...

May 11, 2020

WASHINGTON—In a letter released today, Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) and Ranking Member Sen. Ben Cardin (MD) urged U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ask the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borell, to expedite the adoption of EU sanctions on human rights abusers, include provisions for sanctioning […]

screen-reader-text
Articles

Reflecting on Chechnya

Mar 13, 2020

By Mia Speier, Max Kampelman Fellow On December 11, 1994, Russian forces advanced into Chechnya, a republic in the North Caucasus near Georgia and Azerbaijan, to stop an attempt at secession. A Chechen separatist movement started to gain momentum following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Russians refused to allow any chance at […]

screen-reader-text
Hearings

Human Rights and Democracy

Jan 29, 2020

For nearly three decades, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has been at the forefront of efforts to promote human rights and democracy throughout the 57-nation OSCE region. Although best known for international election observation, ODIHR has also been instrumental in countering various forms […]

screen-reader-text