HUMAN RIGHTS DIPLOMACY AND AI GOVERNANCE: NEGOTIATING MIGRATION CONTROL AND REFUGEE PROTECTION

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has undergone rapid transformation and is affecting governance in several areas, including the management of migration and the protection of refugees. The study examined the contribution of human rights diplomacy to the framing of AI and cyber governance in the context of migrants and refugees within current international relations. The study focused on the processes of negotiation, conflict, and the institutionalization of human rights norms within migration and asylum governance mechanisms that seek to regulate AI technologies. The research design was qualitative-based, and secondary data were obtained from international policy documents, governance structures, institutional reports, and literature. Thematic and discourse analyses were used to examine the relationships among AI governance, migration control, refugee protection, and human rights diplomacy. The findings revealed that AI technologies were increasingly used in border management, biometric identification, digital surveillance, and asylum processing systems. These technologies enhanced administrative efficiency and security, but also raised concerns about privacy, transparency, accountability, discrimination, and access to remedies. Moreover, the analysis shows that human rights diplomacy helped integrate rights-based elements into AI governance frameworks, though there was significant conflict between human rights and security-centric migration policies. Norm contestation and migration securitization were found in most governance arrangements and were attributed to international actors having competing priorities. The study's findings suggest that, although there has been some progress in recognizing digital rights issues through existing governance mechanisms, these mechanisms still need to be implemented and enforced. The study suggested enhanced accountability, human checks and balances, and rights-based governance to ensure AI technologies do not endanger the protection of migrants and refugees in the new digital governance paradigm.