Migration and Human Rights in the Age of the Global Compacts

Dear Colleagues,

World-wide migration levels have continued to soar over the last few decades to over 281 million people on the move or about 3.6 percent of the global population. Likewise, the number of the world’s forcibly displaced reached unprecedented levels that are anticipated to exceed 117 million people. There are many causes for the seemingly ever increasing numbers of persons who are forcibly displaced in the world today including: war or protracted armed conflict; severe human rights violations that amount to persecution; climate change; natural disasters; and developmental displacement. Migration can be forced, or it can be voluntary. Those who migrate to obtain an education, to improve their job prospects and/or their life prospects, to reunite with their family and friends, or simply to broaden their horizons and/or to seek adventure, or simply to visit other countries as a tourist are voluntary migrants. Whether voluntary or involuntary, the number of people in the world who are on the move has been steadily on the rise. Migration can also be regular, or it can be irregular. Regular migrants are those who are documented and authorized to travel to another country and to gain entry and remain in their host country. Irregular migrants are undocumented and typically do not have the right to enter and remain in their host country. If detected by the State authorities, they can be removed from their host country. One of the core human rights is the freedom of movement or mobility rights as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Article 13, that states: 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. 2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Many other international and national human rights instruments include the freedom of movement as a core human right. For instance, see the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) at Article 12, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 10, the European Convention on Human Rights, Protocol 4, Article 2, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 6, Mobility Rights. With refugees and migration becoming such an important global issue and concern, the international community came together in 2016 to forge the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. The New York Declaration included plans for the negotiation and adoption of two Global Compacts by 2018: a Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration; and a Global Compact on Refugees. The Global Compact on Migration was the first such agreement on a common approach to international migration. It consists of 23 objectives for managing migration better at the local, national, regional, and international levels. The Global Compact on Refugees provides a framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing among States and includes four key objectives: ease the pressure on host countries; enhance refugees self-reliance; expand access to third-country solutions; and support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity. For this Topic, on “Migration and Human Rights in the Age of the Global Compacts” we would welcome papers that would cover any aspect of this topic area, including one or more, in combination, of the following: 1. The Advancement of the Protection of Refugees and Migrants rights since the adoption of these two Global Compacts. What advancements, if any, has there been in the legal protections of refugees and migrants since the adoption of the two Global Compacts in 2018? Have these Global Compacts helped or hindered, in any way, the advancement of the protection of the rights of refugees and migrants? 2. Has there been any variation in the application and implementation of the two Global Compacts and what can be learned from one or the other in the progressive development of the rights of refugees and/or migrants? Have States tended to gravitate more to one or the other Global Compact and, if so, what can be learned from the experiences of the application of each of these Compacts in comparative terms? Are the differences between these two Global Compacts legally pronounced, and, if so, how has this impeded or facilitated their application and implementation? 3. The United Nations and its two principal agencies charged with the implementation and operation of the two Global Compacts, the UNHCR and the IOM, have been instrumental in affecting these instruments. What lessons can be learned from how the UNHCR, and the IOM have managed these two Global Compacts? The IOM has led the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration and the UNHCR has taken the lead on the Global Compact on Refugees. What are the similarities and differences in the way that these two UN agencies have undertaken to help to ensure that the provisions of these respective Compacts are applied in practice? 4. What lies in store for the future of these two unprecedented Global Compacts on refugees and migrants? Taking into consideration what has been accomplished to date through these two Global Compacts, what can be reasonably expected from the Global Compacts in the foreseeable future? Presumably, as time goes on and States continue to collaborate and gain further experience in the application and implementation of these Global Compacts, discernible trends in the evolution and development of these compacts will become evident. What are the noticeable trajectories in the future development of the Global Compacts? We are open, of course, to considering novel approaches and methodologies on this Topic and any other areas that have direct bearing on the title and thematic outlines presented above for our Topic. We look forward to receiving your abstracts by May 31st, 2024, and manuscripts by July 31st, 2024. While MDPI academic journals are a pay-to-publish site, we have negotiated that contributions on this Topic will be free. Should you have any questions, please direct these to the attention of the co-editors of this MDPI Topic.

Dr. James C. Simeon
Prof. Dr. Elspeth Guild
Topic Editors