Global Compact for Migration

Global Compact for Migration
Name	Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
Adopted	2018
Adopted by	United Nations General Assembly
Location	Marrakech
Language	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish

Contents

Global Compact for Migration The Global Compact for Migration is an intergovernmental agreement negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly and concluded at the Intergovernmental Conference on International Migration held in Marrakech in 2018. Framed within processes led by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Compact involved delegations from Member States of the United Nations, representatives of the International Organization for Migration, and civil society actors including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Background and Negotiation Process

Negotiations built on prior instruments such as the 1951 Refugee Convention, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the outcomes of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants endorsed at the United Nations General Assembly plenary. Facilitation and drafting were coordinated by the United Nations Secretariat, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International Organization for Migration, with inputs from regional bodies including the African Union, the European Union, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Intergovernmental consultations occurred in the Geneva and New York City phases, alongside civil society fora attended by organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam International, and the International Trade Union Confederation.

The Compact sets out objectives intended to enhance cooperation among Member States of the United Nations on migration management, drawing on norms from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and standards articulated by the International Labour Organization. Key provisions address data collection and research involving the United Nations Economic and Social Council, measures for countering human trafficking promoted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and protections for children referenced in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The text encourages integration and social inclusion efforts linked to policies of the Council of Europe, border management practices compatible with rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, and return and readmission arrangements consistent with bilateral frameworks like the Dublin Regulation and regional agreements such as the Khartoum Process.

Implementation mechanisms emphasize cooperation with multilateral agencies including the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the World Bank for development-related migration responses. Monitoring options include voluntary state reviews similar to processes used by the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council and reporting linked to the Sustainable Development Goals overseen by the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Capacity-building initiatives referenced partner organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme, technical assistance from the International Labour Organization, and pilot projects supported by the European Commission and regional development banks like the African Development Bank.

The Compact was adopted through intergovernmental consensus at the Intergovernmental Conference on International Migration in Marrakech and subsequently endorsed in a vote at the United Nations General Assembly. While many Member States of the United Nations signaled support, several states including the United States under the Trump administration, Australia, Hungary, and Israel announced opposition or withdrew support, citing concerns that intersected with debates in national legislatures such as the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the Knesset. Regional groupings including the European Union endorsed implementation guidance, while countries across Africa, Latin America, and Asia articulated differing positions during bilateral consultations with the International Organization for Migration.

Critics ranged from political leaders in parties like Alternative for Germany and movements allied with Brexit advocates to human rights scholars associated with institutions such as Harvard University and Oxford University, who debated the Compact’s normative effects on sovereignty as construed in scholarship referencing the Westphalian system and precedents like the Treaty of Westphalia. Some civil society actors including Doctors Without Borders raised concerns about implementation gaps relative to standards in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, while migration scholars linked to the Migration Policy Institute and the Brookings Institution analyzed tensions between state control and protection obligations. Legal critiques engaged courts such as the European Court of Human Rights and national constitutional tribunals in debates over non-binding instruments and their interaction with domestic law.

Post-adoption outcomes included enhanced data projects coordinated by the International Organization for Migration and technical collaborations with the World Health Organization on migrant health, partnerships with the International Labour Organization on labor migration pathways, and regional strategies developed by the African Union and the Organization of American States. Several countries integrated aspects of the Compact into national strategies alongside instruments like the Global Compact on Refugees, and donor coordination involved agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme and multilateral development banks. The Compact’s non-binding character meant outcomes varied, with monitoring reports by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and evaluations by NGOs such as Transparency International documenting heterogeneous implementation.

The Compact interacts with a corpus including the 1951 Refugee Convention, the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the Global Compact on Refugees. It complements normative frameworks like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and standards from the International Labour Organization while remaining legally distinct from treaty obligations adjudicated by bodies such as the International Court of Justice and subject to review mechanisms of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Category:International migration law