The Erosion of Asylum and Due Process in Ecuador’s 2025 LOMH Reforms

This analysis examines the drastic shift in Ecuadorian migration governance marked by the October 2025 reforms to the Organic Law on Human Mobility (LOMH). Historically celebrated for its constitutional mandate of "universal citizenship," Ecuador has transitioned toward a securitized migration regime in response to the internal armed conflict declared in 2024. The text highlights how the new legislation dismantles the previous rights-based framework through three specific mechanisms: the weaponization of admissibility procedures to screen out applicants based on opaque intelligence rather than judicial findings; the introduction of summary deportation regimes for detainees lacking final convictions, which erodes the presumption of innocence; and the imposition of extraterritorial barriers, such as restrictive transit visas, effectively serving as non-entrée policies for Global South nationals. These reforms undermine Ecuador’s obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Cartagena Declaration, ultimately transforming the asylum seeker from a subject of rights into a security risk to be managed or removed.