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The UN migration compact. Part 1
I learned about the "UN migration compact" only last week. To my surprise, I found that this document was finalized in July 2018 and is supposed to be signed by UN countries already in early December. There has been very little coverage of this proposed agreement in the media, and very little discussion that I'm aware of. Google search for "media coverage UN migration compact" gives 1 short article in NYT from July 2018 and other than that, just official releases from the UN and affiliated institutions. Also, bloggers who would be usually very sensitive to migration issues never mentioned this UN initiative until very recently. It appears that the UN compact was kept under covers by Western journalists - perhaps because the journalists knew that the population is mostly anti-migration in pretty much every Western country, and that public discussion will likely result in a major political fallout for the mostly pro-migration political elites.
What is this "migration compact" about? I will read the official text from a neutral point of view. I will assume that all facts mentioned in the text are true, and I will only summarize the actual policy proposed in the text, ignoring all other statements (such as "XYZ is an important milestone" or "the good must prevail over the bad" or "we abide by the founding principles of ABC"). I will focus on policy-prescribing statements such as "we must do XYZ". I will cite pages according to this PDF file. The text is also officially available here in DOC format. I will refer to the text as UNGCM (UN Global Compact on Migration).
"Regular" migration
The title is GLOBAL COMPACT FOR SAFE, ORDERLY AND REGULAR MIGRATION. My first question - what is "regular". Regular as in "occurring routinely every day"? This would be the most obvious reading of the title. However, it turns out that it's not what they mean. They mean regular as in "proceeds according to regulations and laws", as opposed to "irregular migration" which is the same as "contrary to regulations and laws" - which is usually called "illegal migration". (This is clear from the opposition of "regular" and "irregular" migration in pages 2 and 3.) However, the precise meaning of "regular migration" is not explicitly discussed in the document. The usage is purely implicit. So, we conclude the document tacitly changes the language used for discussing migration: from the "legal/illegal" (as it is widely used today) to "regular/irregular" (terminology not much used today), and we note that the word "regular" has connotations of "ordinary" and "occurring routinely every day", and this is also the meaning of "regular" sometimes used in the UNGCM document when not talking about migration. (The word "illegal" is never used in the UNGCM text.)
The UNGCM is about migrants, not refugees
Page 2:
Refugees and migrants are entitled to the same universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, which must be respected, protected and fulfilled at all times. However, migrants and refugees are distinct groups governed by separate legal frameworks. Only refugees are entitled to the specific international protection as defined by international refugee law. This Global Compact refers to migrants and presents a cooperative framework addressing migration in all its dimensions.
Refugees flee persecution, civil war, or natural disaster; migrants do not flee, they migrate. So, the UNGCM is about people who decide to migrate, and who are not in any kind of dire circumstances that would qualify them to be refugees.
"Non-legally binding commitment"
Page 2:
This Global Compact presents a non-legally binding, cooperative framework that builds on the commitments agreed upon by Member States in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. It fosters international cooperation among all relevant actors on migration, acknowledging that no State can address migration alone, and upholds the sovereignty of States and their obligations under international law.
A "non-legally binding commitment" is a contradictory concept. Politicians in different countries have voiced the opinion that such commitments have a tendency to become legally binding and enforced. In other words, it is politically expedient for the politicians to start treating these commitments as binding, and that's the purpose of introducing such language. However, this is just an opinion about motives and purposes, and can be ignored when discussing actual proposed policy.
Page 2:
This Global Compact expresses our collective commitment to improving cooperation on international migration. Migration has been part of the human experience throughout history, and we recognize that it is a source of prosperity, innovation and sustainable development in our globalized world, and that these positive impacts can be optimized by improving migration governance. The majority of migrants around the world today travel, live and work in a safe, orderly and regular manner. Nonetheless, migration undeniably affects our countries, communities, migrants and their families in very different and sometimes unpredictable ways.
... This Global Compact sets out our common understanding, shared responsibilities and unity of purpose regarding migration, making it work for all.
"Making migration work for all" is the slogan repeated by various UN sources. This emphasizes that migration should happen and should have positive outcomes. Migration is good for everyone (has specific benefits) except that it is not sufficiently governed and regulated, and if we govern and regulate it more, migration will have even better outcomes. Negative aspects of migration (which remain unspecified here) can be mitigated through international cooperation.
So, it is proposed that countries should have UN-directed cooperation, at government level, about immigration regulations. In other words, countries should not just adopt their own migration policy - there must be cooperation, governed at the international level. The UNGCM will presumably specify what the countries should be doing.
Why is a new agreement necessary, if the majority of migrants are doing fine and live "in a safe, orderly, and regular manner"? Perhaps, the problem is the "irregular", i.e. illegal, migration, that causes negative effects. But the text does not spell this out - it only vaguely refers to "unpredictable" effects of migration. At the same time, the text emphasizes that the parallel constructions "safe, orderly, and regular" are equally applied to ordinary life and to migration.
Page 3:
We must ensure that current and potential migrants are fully informed about their rights, obligations and options for safe, orderly and regular migration, and are aware of the risks of irregular migration. We also must provide all our citizens with access to objective, evidence-based, clear information about the benefits and challenges of migration, with a view to dispelling misleading narratives that generate negative perceptions of migrants.
Migrants should have full information about their rights and methods for avoiding illegal status. UNGCM also prescribes that information must be spread about migrants as positive factors, and that negative perceptions of migrants are incorrect. UNGCM does not mention that pro-migration information could be also misleading; only contra-migration information is misleading (it's a "narrative", not "information") and should be "dispelled". Countries should spread only the desirable sort of information and not any evidence-based information about the bad behavior of migrants.
This position is contradictory: countries should spread evidence-based information about both positive and negative sides of migration (which may include bad behavior of migrants if it is in fact observed), and yet at the same time this information should support the pre-determined conclusion that the bad behavior of migrants is an illusion and does not exist.
Page 3:
Migration should never be an act of desperation. When it is, we must cooperate to respond to the needs of migrants in situations of vulnerability, and address the respective challenges. We must work together to create conditions that allow communities and individuals to live in safety and dignity in their own countries. We must save lives and keep migrants out of harm’s way. We must empower migrants to become full members of our societies, highlight their positive contributions, and promote inclusion and social cohesion. We must generate greater predictability and certainty for States, communities and migrants alike. To achieve this, we commit to facilitate and ensure safe, orderly and regular migration for the benefit of all.
We cannot really determine whether migration is an act of desperation or not - it is an judgment on the emotional state of the migrant. Therefore, the countries must, according to the emotional state of migrants, save them from a "situation of vulnerability" and "keep them out of harm's way". For example, a migrant enters an emotional state of desperation and jumps into the sea, trying to swim towards a different country. That county now has an obligation to save the migrant's life and also to make sure (how?) that this migrant is not illegal (i.e. "regular" in the language of UNGCM).
The document repeats here the requirement that countries should spread information about positive contributions of migrants.
Also, countries must "ensure migration". This may sound like a directive that at least X million of migrants must be accepted. However, the text does not actually say that - it's just a connotation of this turn of phrase. The phrase actually means that when migration happens, we need to ensure that it is safe and orderly and "regular".
Page 4:
The Global Compact is a non-legally binding cooperative framework that recognizes that no State can address migration on its own due to the inherently transnational nature of the phenomenon. It requires international, regional and bilateral cooperation and dialogue.
The Global Compact reaffirms the sovereign right of States to determine their national migration policy and their prerogative to govern migration within their jurisdiction, in conformity with international law. Within their sovereign jurisdiction, States may distinguish between regular and irregular migration status, including as they determine their legislative and policy measures for the implementation of the Global Compact...
The Global Compact recognizes that respect for the rule of law, due process and access to justice are fundamental to all aspects of migration governance. This means that the State, public and private institutions and entities, as well as persons themselves are accountable to laws...
The text promotes a contradiction that States cannot address migration on its own (e.g. by passing immigration laws as they will), and at the same time that States may determine immigration policy as they will, e.g. by passing laws that distinguish legal and illegal immigration (here called "regular" and "irregular").
Page 5:
The Global Compact promotes broad multi-stakeholder partnerships to address migration in all its dimensions by including migrants, diasporas, local communities, civil society, academia, the private sector, parliamentarians, trade unions, National Human Rights Institutions, the media and other relevant stakeholders in migration governance.
Academia, parliamentarians, and media are named as stakeholders in the migration issue. This is contrary to the ordinary view that academics study their subjects objectively rather than engage in political activism of their own invention; that parliaments reflect the political will of their constituents rather than promote the parliamentarians' own personal agendas; and that media impartially reports on events.
Therefore, the UNGCM here promotes the personal political activism of academics, of journalists, and of parliamentarians, and requires countries to treat them as stakeholders in the issue of immigration, even though this goes contrary to the accepted social roles of these people.
Pages 6-8:
Collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence- based policies
The question is - data on what? UNGCM lists 11 points of implementation, which indicate that the data will be only about the number of migrants and about the positive effect of migration, the needs of migrants, and on difficulties at the country of origin. Any data that is undesirable for public dissemination (details are unspecified!) should be "protected" due to privacy concerns.
Pages 8-9:
Minimize the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin
The 7 points of implementation focus on investment in the countries' development and various UN relief and help programs. (These programs are most likely already in place, and have lead in the past decades to explosive population growth and increased migration pressure.) The UNGCM proposes to do more of the same. There must be more UN intervention in all kinds of countries and in all kinds of areas, - from water and food supply to entrepreneurship to natural disaster prevention.
Pages 9-10:
Provide accurate and timely information at all stages of migration
Launch and publicize a centralized and publicly accessible national website to make information available on regular migration options, such as on country-specific immigration laws and policies, visa requirements, application formalities, fees and conversion criteria, employment permit requirements, professional qualification requirements, credential assessment and equivalences, training and study opportunities, and living costs and conditions, in order to inform the decisions of migrants
This and 4 further action items will ensure that migrants have detailed information about how and where to migrate, in their country of origin, so that they can make an informed decision about where to go, and also they should obtain comprehensive help (financial support, orientation, legal support, etc.) once they arrive there.
Ensure that all migrants have proof of legal identity and adequate documentation
Among the 7 action items, this one
Harmonize travel documents in line with the specifications of the International Civil Aviation Organization to facilitate interoperable and universal recognition of travel documents, as well as to combat identity fraud and document forgery, including by investing in digitalization, and strengthening mechanisms for biometric data-sharing, while upholding the right to privacy and protecting personal data
will require countries to make all their passports digital and to share the databases with the UN. The overall direction of other action items is to make sure every person has a passport and is digitally accessible in an internationally managed database, "while protecting privacy and personal data" (which is an obvious contradiction). Countries will need to make sure everyone is counted and that information about everyone is available to the unelected UN officials.
None of these action items addresses the question of what to do with illegal migrants. If these policies are implemented, migrants will all have passports, but this does not prevent them from becoming illegal ("irregular") migrants. None of the action items will "ensure" that a migrant will actually take steps to obtain valid identity documents. No punitive measures are proposed towards migrants who do not show documents.
Enhance availability and flexibility of pathways for regular migration
The 10 action items are focused on developing and enhancing various visa-free, work-visa, and other temporary-stay regulations, in order to increase opportunities for migration, reduce visa processing time, increase quotas and so on.
At the same time, there are two action items with a different focus:
Page 12
Develop or build on existing national and regional practices for admission and stay of appropriate duration based on compassionate, humanitarian or other considerations for migrants compelled to leave their countries of origin, due to sudden-onset natural disasters and other precarious situations, such as by providing humanitarian visas, private sponsorships, access to education for children, and temporary work permits, while adaptation in or return to their country of origin is not possible
This action item contradicts the previously asserted definition that migrants are not refugees (i.e. migrants are by definition not fleeing from sudden catastrophic events and not in need of emergency humanitarian help). Another action item also adds the same provisions for "slow-onset natural disasters" - and climate change is one of these.
Facilitate access to procedures for family reunification for migrants at all skills levels through appropriate measures that promote the realization of the right to family life and the best interests of the child, including by reviewing and revising applicable requirements, such as on income, language proficiency, length of stay, work authorization, and access to social security and services
Countries must remove any requirements that prevent migrants to bring their families along, regardless of how well the migrant is integrated into the society. It is never mentioned in the UNGCM text that all illegal migrants should also be able to bring their family along; however, child migrants may do that even if they are illegal migrants. (Child migrants are those who claim they are children and who have not yet been determined to be adults via a special hearing procedure; this is described later in the text.)
Facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work
Page 13:
Improve regulations on public and private recruitment agencies, in order to align them with international guidelines and best practices, prohibit recruiters and employers from charging or shifting recruitment fees or related costs to migrant workers in order to prevent debt bondage, exploitation and forced labour, including by establishing mandatory, enforceable mechanisms for effective regulation and monitoring of the recruitment industry...
Provide migrant workers engaged in remunerated and contractual labour with the same labour rights and protections extended to all workers in the respective sector, such as the rights to just and favourable conditions of work, to equal pay for work of equal value, to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including through wage protection mechanisms, social dialogue and membership in trade unions
Migrants should get jobs with no extra fees to pay. It must be the employer's obligation to pay these fees. Migrant workers should have the same bargaining power in trade unions and the same protections.
Other action items focus on preventing slave labor and indentured servitude, as well as preventing "exploitation" and "abuse" (no definition given).
Address and reduce vulnerabilities in migration
Page 14:
Establish comprehensive policies and develop partnerships that provide migrants in a situation of vulnerability, regardless of their migration status, with necessary support at all stages of migration, through identification and assistance, as well as protection of their human rights, in particular in cases related to women at risk, children, especially those unaccompanied or separated from their families, members of ethnic and religious minorities, victims of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, older persons, persons with disabilities, persons who are discriminated against on any basis, indigenous peoples, workers facing exploitation and abuse, domestic workers, victims of trafficking in persons, and migrants subject to exploitation and abuse in the context of smuggling of migrants.
This is the first time the text mentions the concept of "migration status". Later it is mentioned that status can be "irregular". We must conclude that "migration status" can be "legal" (of various categories or "stages" as they say), or "illegal".
Therefore the countries are compelled to provide protection and support (of unspecified kind) to a large number of migrants - according to the list of all kinds of "vulnerable" persons - even if they are illegal migrants. A specific kind of support mentioned in the text is legal support, which must be free or "affordable", in order to help migrants become legal and/or use all available legal immigration options.
Later in the text it is made clear that illegal status is itself a "vulnerability" from which the migrants need to be protected:
Page 15:
Develop accessible and expedient procedures that facilitate transitions from one status to another and inform migrants of their rights and obligations, so as to prevent migrants from falling into an irregular status in the country of destination, to reduce precariousness of status and related vulnerabilities, as well as to enable individual status assessments for migrants, including for those who have fallen out of regular status, without fear of arbitrary expulsion
Build on existing practices to facilitate access for migrants in an irregular status to an individual assessment that may lead to regular status, on a case by case basis and with clear and transparent criteria, especially in cases where children, youth and families are involved, as an option to reduce vulnerabilities, as well as for States to ascertain better knowledge of the resident population
So, the countries will need to help illegal migrants become legal - because being illegal is a vulnerability. Illegal migration is described as a calamity, as an external event that threatens the migrant ("falling out of regular status") rather than as a migrant's decision to enter another country illegally.
The countries must help migrants even when the migrants have not yet reached their country of destination:
Apply specific support measures to ensure that migrants caught up in situations of crisis in countries of transit and destination have access to consular protection and humanitarian assistance, including by facilitating cross-border and broader international cooperation, as well as by taking migrant populations into account in crisis preparedness, emergency response and post-crisis action
If a migrant has left the country of origin and is presently in a second country ("country of transit"), which is presently in crisis, while a third country is designated (by whom?) as the country of destination, then the third country is obliged to help the migrant by giving "consular protection and humanitarian assistance". Presumably so that the migrant may reach the country of destination? The document does not make this clear, but "consular protection" is something that a country can only give to someone residing on some foreign territory.
It seems hardly to be expected that the country of origin would be able to give "consular protection and humanitarian assistance" to migrants that intend to leave it and go to another country. Actually, this kind of protection and assistance goes without saying. A foreign consulate of some country should always help and protect their citizens who choose to live abroad and got into any kind of trouble. So it would not be meaningful for UNGCM to reiterate this obligation.
It remains to interpret the text as follows. Whenever country 1 undertakes humanitarian help mission in a disaster-stricken country 2, where it finds migrants from country 3, the UNGCM requires that country 1 should specially seek out these migrants (above and beyond helping everyone else) and give these migrants "consular protection". This makes sense only if these migrants are ultimately to be received in country 1, and so this seems to be the intention of the UNGCM.
Save lives and establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrants
Page 16:
Develop procedures and agreements on search and rescue of migrants, with the primary objective to protect migrants’ right to life that uphold the prohibition of collective expulsion, guarantee due process and individual assessments, enhance reception and assistance capacities, and ensure that the provision of assistance of an exclusively humanitarian nature for migrants is not considered unlawful
The formulation is somewhat ungrammatical (a comma before "that uphold" is missing). Inserting that comma and omitting "objective", we get "procedures ... that prohibit collective expulsion", which is grammatical.
The concept of "search and rescue of missing migrants" is meaningful only when the migrants have not yet reached the country and are "missing" outside the country's territory. Thus, UNGCM requires countries to search for migrants who might be in danger outside their borders and then to give them "reception and assistance". What kind of assistance? A migrant who is in danger while trying to enter the country illegally via a dangerous route is in need of only one kind of assistance - getting into the country, i.e. "reception" as specified in the text.
So, we find that the countries are obliged to search for migrants outside their borders who might be in danger, rescue them, and bring them into the country.
Review the impacts of migration-related policies and laws to ensure that these do not raise or create the risk of migrants going missing, including by identifying dangerous transit routes used by migrants, by working with other States as well as relevant stakeholders and international organizations to identify contextual risks and establishing mechanisms for preventing and responding to such situations
Enable migrants to communicate with their families without delay to inform them that they are alive by facilitating access to means of communication along routes and at their destination, including in places of detention, as well as access to consular missions, local authorities and organizations that can provide assistance with family contacts
The notion of "contextual risk" is undefined. Ignoring that adjective, we find the following policy:
Countries must make migration routes safe and risk-free, and must install communication points along the migration routes so that migrants can communicate with their families.
(How would they be able to communicate - e.g. by placing a free international telephone call? It will be impossible to prevent migrants from communicating with anyone else in the world, once this system is in place. Or, should there be special call centers with people who will make phone calls for migrants, trained to talk in any language? This hardly seems realistic. The document does not specify further the ways migrants should be enabled to communicate with their families.)
Strengthen the transnational response to smuggling of migrants
Page 17
Develop gender-responsive and child-sensitive cooperation protocols along migration routes that outline step-by-step measures to adequately identify and assist smuggled migrants, in accordance with international law, as well as to facilitate cross-border law enforcement and intelligence cooperation in order to prevent and counter smuggling of migrants with the aim to end impunity for smugglers and prevent irregular migration, while ensuring that counter-smuggling measures are in full respect for human rights
Design, review or amend relevant policies and procedures to distinguish between the crimes of smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons by using the correct definitions and applying distinct responses to these separate crimes, while recognizing that smuggled migrants might also become victims of trafficking in persons, therefore requiring appropriate protection and assistance
The countries will actively combat smuggling of migrants, with international cooperation to prosecute the smugglers while not prosecuting the migrants who were smuggled. In other words, the migrants (who violated the law) should not be prosecuted if they pay a smuggler. On the contrary, smuggled migrants must be "assisted" ("assisted" in doing what?). In any case, migrants are not at fault - they are "victims" of smuggling. At the same time, the crime of smuggling needs to be distinguished from the crime of human trafficking (the document does not say which crime is worse).
To be continued.
I learned about the "UN migration compact" only last week. To my surprise, I found that this document was finalized in July 2018 and is supposed to be signed by UN countries already in early December. There has been very little coverage of this proposed agreement in the media, and very little discussion that I'm aware of. Google search for "media coverage UN migration compact" gives 1 short article in NYT from July 2018 and other than that, just official releases from the UN and affiliated institutions. Also, bloggers who would be usually very sensitive to migration issues never mentioned this UN initiative until very recently. It appears that the UN compact was kept under covers by Western journalists - perhaps because the journalists knew that the population is mostly anti-migration in pretty much every Western country, and that public discussion will likely result in a major political fallout for the mostly pro-migration political elites.
What is this "migration compact" about? I will read the official text from a neutral point of view. I will assume that all facts mentioned in the text are true, and I will only summarize the actual policy proposed in the text, ignoring all other statements (such as "XYZ is an important milestone" or "the good must prevail over the bad" or "we abide by the founding principles of ABC"). I will focus on policy-prescribing statements such as "we must do XYZ". I will cite pages according to this PDF file. The text is also officially available here in DOC format. I will refer to the text as UNGCM (UN Global Compact on Migration).
"Regular" migration
The title is GLOBAL COMPACT FOR SAFE, ORDERLY AND REGULAR MIGRATION. My first question - what is "regular". Regular as in "occurring routinely every day"? This would be the most obvious reading of the title. However, it turns out that it's not what they mean. They mean regular as in "proceeds according to regulations and laws", as opposed to "irregular migration" which is the same as "contrary to regulations and laws" - which is usually called "illegal migration". (This is clear from the opposition of "regular" and "irregular" migration in pages 2 and 3.) However, the precise meaning of "regular migration" is not explicitly discussed in the document. The usage is purely implicit. So, we conclude the document tacitly changes the language used for discussing migration: from the "legal/illegal" (as it is widely used today) to "regular/irregular" (terminology not much used today), and we note that the word "regular" has connotations of "ordinary" and "occurring routinely every day", and this is also the meaning of "regular" sometimes used in the UNGCM document when not talking about migration. (The word "illegal" is never used in the UNGCM text.)
The UNGCM is about migrants, not refugees
Page 2:
Refugees and migrants are entitled to the same universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, which must be respected, protected and fulfilled at all times. However, migrants and refugees are distinct groups governed by separate legal frameworks. Only refugees are entitled to the specific international protection as defined by international refugee law. This Global Compact refers to migrants and presents a cooperative framework addressing migration in all its dimensions.
Refugees flee persecution, civil war, or natural disaster; migrants do not flee, they migrate. So, the UNGCM is about people who decide to migrate, and who are not in any kind of dire circumstances that would qualify them to be refugees.
"Non-legally binding commitment"
Page 2:
This Global Compact presents a non-legally binding, cooperative framework that builds on the commitments agreed upon by Member States in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. It fosters international cooperation among all relevant actors on migration, acknowledging that no State can address migration alone, and upholds the sovereignty of States and their obligations under international law.
A "non-legally binding commitment" is a contradictory concept. Politicians in different countries have voiced the opinion that such commitments have a tendency to become legally binding and enforced. In other words, it is politically expedient for the politicians to start treating these commitments as binding, and that's the purpose of introducing such language. However, this is just an opinion about motives and purposes, and can be ignored when discussing actual proposed policy.
Page 2:
This Global Compact expresses our collective commitment to improving cooperation on international migration. Migration has been part of the human experience throughout history, and we recognize that it is a source of prosperity, innovation and sustainable development in our globalized world, and that these positive impacts can be optimized by improving migration governance. The majority of migrants around the world today travel, live and work in a safe, orderly and regular manner. Nonetheless, migration undeniably affects our countries, communities, migrants and their families in very different and sometimes unpredictable ways.
... This Global Compact sets out our common understanding, shared responsibilities and unity of purpose regarding migration, making it work for all.
"Making migration work for all" is the slogan repeated by various UN sources. This emphasizes that migration should happen and should have positive outcomes. Migration is good for everyone (has specific benefits) except that it is not sufficiently governed and regulated, and if we govern and regulate it more, migration will have even better outcomes. Negative aspects of migration (which remain unspecified here) can be mitigated through international cooperation.
So, it is proposed that countries should have UN-directed cooperation, at government level, about immigration regulations. In other words, countries should not just adopt their own migration policy - there must be cooperation, governed at the international level. The UNGCM will presumably specify what the countries should be doing.
Why is a new agreement necessary, if the majority of migrants are doing fine and live "in a safe, orderly, and regular manner"? Perhaps, the problem is the "irregular", i.e. illegal, migration, that causes negative effects. But the text does not spell this out - it only vaguely refers to "unpredictable" effects of migration. At the same time, the text emphasizes that the parallel constructions "safe, orderly, and regular" are equally applied to ordinary life and to migration.
Page 3:
We must ensure that current and potential migrants are fully informed about their rights, obligations and options for safe, orderly and regular migration, and are aware of the risks of irregular migration. We also must provide all our citizens with access to objective, evidence-based, clear information about the benefits and challenges of migration, with a view to dispelling misleading narratives that generate negative perceptions of migrants.
Migrants should have full information about their rights and methods for avoiding illegal status. UNGCM also prescribes that information must be spread about migrants as positive factors, and that negative perceptions of migrants are incorrect. UNGCM does not mention that pro-migration information could be also misleading; only contra-migration information is misleading (it's a "narrative", not "information") and should be "dispelled". Countries should spread only the desirable sort of information and not any evidence-based information about the bad behavior of migrants.
This position is contradictory: countries should spread evidence-based information about both positive and negative sides of migration (which may include bad behavior of migrants if it is in fact observed), and yet at the same time this information should support the pre-determined conclusion that the bad behavior of migrants is an illusion and does not exist.
Page 3:
Migration should never be an act of desperation. When it is, we must cooperate to respond to the needs of migrants in situations of vulnerability, and address the respective challenges. We must work together to create conditions that allow communities and individuals to live in safety and dignity in their own countries. We must save lives and keep migrants out of harm’s way. We must empower migrants to become full members of our societies, highlight their positive contributions, and promote inclusion and social cohesion. We must generate greater predictability and certainty for States, communities and migrants alike. To achieve this, we commit to facilitate and ensure safe, orderly and regular migration for the benefit of all.
We cannot really determine whether migration is an act of desperation or not - it is an judgment on the emotional state of the migrant. Therefore, the countries must, according to the emotional state of migrants, save them from a "situation of vulnerability" and "keep them out of harm's way". For example, a migrant enters an emotional state of desperation and jumps into the sea, trying to swim towards a different country. That county now has an obligation to save the migrant's life and also to make sure (how?) that this migrant is not illegal (i.e. "regular" in the language of UNGCM).
The document repeats here the requirement that countries should spread information about positive contributions of migrants.
Also, countries must "ensure migration". This may sound like a directive that at least X million of migrants must be accepted. However, the text does not actually say that - it's just a connotation of this turn of phrase. The phrase actually means that when migration happens, we need to ensure that it is safe and orderly and "regular".
Page 4:
The Global Compact is a non-legally binding cooperative framework that recognizes that no State can address migration on its own due to the inherently transnational nature of the phenomenon. It requires international, regional and bilateral cooperation and dialogue.
The Global Compact reaffirms the sovereign right of States to determine their national migration policy and their prerogative to govern migration within their jurisdiction, in conformity with international law. Within their sovereign jurisdiction, States may distinguish between regular and irregular migration status, including as they determine their legislative and policy measures for the implementation of the Global Compact...
The Global Compact recognizes that respect for the rule of law, due process and access to justice are fundamental to all aspects of migration governance. This means that the State, public and private institutions and entities, as well as persons themselves are accountable to laws...
The text promotes a contradiction that States cannot address migration on its own (e.g. by passing immigration laws as they will), and at the same time that States may determine immigration policy as they will, e.g. by passing laws that distinguish legal and illegal immigration (here called "regular" and "irregular").
Page 5:
The Global Compact promotes broad multi-stakeholder partnerships to address migration in all its dimensions by including migrants, diasporas, local communities, civil society, academia, the private sector, parliamentarians, trade unions, National Human Rights Institutions, the media and other relevant stakeholders in migration governance.
Academia, parliamentarians, and media are named as stakeholders in the migration issue. This is contrary to the ordinary view that academics study their subjects objectively rather than engage in political activism of their own invention; that parliaments reflect the political will of their constituents rather than promote the parliamentarians' own personal agendas; and that media impartially reports on events.
Therefore, the UNGCM here promotes the personal political activism of academics, of journalists, and of parliamentarians, and requires countries to treat them as stakeholders in the issue of immigration, even though this goes contrary to the accepted social roles of these people.
Pages 6-8:
Collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence- based policies
The question is - data on what? UNGCM lists 11 points of implementation, which indicate that the data will be only about the number of migrants and about the positive effect of migration, the needs of migrants, and on difficulties at the country of origin. Any data that is undesirable for public dissemination (details are unspecified!) should be "protected" due to privacy concerns.
Pages 8-9:
Minimize the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin
The 7 points of implementation focus on investment in the countries' development and various UN relief and help programs. (These programs are most likely already in place, and have lead in the past decades to explosive population growth and increased migration pressure.) The UNGCM proposes to do more of the same. There must be more UN intervention in all kinds of countries and in all kinds of areas, - from water and food supply to entrepreneurship to natural disaster prevention.
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Provide accurate and timely information at all stages of migration
Launch and publicize a centralized and publicly accessible national website to make information available on regular migration options, such as on country-specific immigration laws and policies, visa requirements, application formalities, fees and conversion criteria, employment permit requirements, professional qualification requirements, credential assessment and equivalences, training and study opportunities, and living costs and conditions, in order to inform the decisions of migrants
This and 4 further action items will ensure that migrants have detailed information about how and where to migrate, in their country of origin, so that they can make an informed decision about where to go, and also they should obtain comprehensive help (financial support, orientation, legal support, etc.) once they arrive there.
Ensure that all migrants have proof of legal identity and adequate documentation
Among the 7 action items, this one
Harmonize travel documents in line with the specifications of the International Civil Aviation Organization to facilitate interoperable and universal recognition of travel documents, as well as to combat identity fraud and document forgery, including by investing in digitalization, and strengthening mechanisms for biometric data-sharing, while upholding the right to privacy and protecting personal data
will require countries to make all their passports digital and to share the databases with the UN. The overall direction of other action items is to make sure every person has a passport and is digitally accessible in an internationally managed database, "while protecting privacy and personal data" (which is an obvious contradiction). Countries will need to make sure everyone is counted and that information about everyone is available to the unelected UN officials.
None of these action items addresses the question of what to do with illegal migrants. If these policies are implemented, migrants will all have passports, but this does not prevent them from becoming illegal ("irregular") migrants. None of the action items will "ensure" that a migrant will actually take steps to obtain valid identity documents. No punitive measures are proposed towards migrants who do not show documents.
Enhance availability and flexibility of pathways for regular migration
The 10 action items are focused on developing and enhancing various visa-free, work-visa, and other temporary-stay regulations, in order to increase opportunities for migration, reduce visa processing time, increase quotas and so on.
At the same time, there are two action items with a different focus:
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Develop or build on existing national and regional practices for admission and stay of appropriate duration based on compassionate, humanitarian or other considerations for migrants compelled to leave their countries of origin, due to sudden-onset natural disasters and other precarious situations, such as by providing humanitarian visas, private sponsorships, access to education for children, and temporary work permits, while adaptation in or return to their country of origin is not possible
This action item contradicts the previously asserted definition that migrants are not refugees (i.e. migrants are by definition not fleeing from sudden catastrophic events and not in need of emergency humanitarian help). Another action item also adds the same provisions for "slow-onset natural disasters" - and climate change is one of these.
Facilitate access to procedures for family reunification for migrants at all skills levels through appropriate measures that promote the realization of the right to family life and the best interests of the child, including by reviewing and revising applicable requirements, such as on income, language proficiency, length of stay, work authorization, and access to social security and services
Countries must remove any requirements that prevent migrants to bring their families along, regardless of how well the migrant is integrated into the society. It is never mentioned in the UNGCM text that all illegal migrants should also be able to bring their family along; however, child migrants may do that even if they are illegal migrants. (Child migrants are those who claim they are children and who have not yet been determined to be adults via a special hearing procedure; this is described later in the text.)
Facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work
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Improve regulations on public and private recruitment agencies, in order to align them with international guidelines and best practices, prohibit recruiters and employers from charging or shifting recruitment fees or related costs to migrant workers in order to prevent debt bondage, exploitation and forced labour, including by establishing mandatory, enforceable mechanisms for effective regulation and monitoring of the recruitment industry...
Provide migrant workers engaged in remunerated and contractual labour with the same labour rights and protections extended to all workers in the respective sector, such as the rights to just and favourable conditions of work, to equal pay for work of equal value, to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including through wage protection mechanisms, social dialogue and membership in trade unions
Migrants should get jobs with no extra fees to pay. It must be the employer's obligation to pay these fees. Migrant workers should have the same bargaining power in trade unions and the same protections.
Other action items focus on preventing slave labor and indentured servitude, as well as preventing "exploitation" and "abuse" (no definition given).
Address and reduce vulnerabilities in migration
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Establish comprehensive policies and develop partnerships that provide migrants in a situation of vulnerability, regardless of their migration status, with necessary support at all stages of migration, through identification and assistance, as well as protection of their human rights, in particular in cases related to women at risk, children, especially those unaccompanied or separated from their families, members of ethnic and religious minorities, victims of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, older persons, persons with disabilities, persons who are discriminated against on any basis, indigenous peoples, workers facing exploitation and abuse, domestic workers, victims of trafficking in persons, and migrants subject to exploitation and abuse in the context of smuggling of migrants.
This is the first time the text mentions the concept of "migration status". Later it is mentioned that status can be "irregular". We must conclude that "migration status" can be "legal" (of various categories or "stages" as they say), or "illegal".
Therefore the countries are compelled to provide protection and support (of unspecified kind) to a large number of migrants - according to the list of all kinds of "vulnerable" persons - even if they are illegal migrants. A specific kind of support mentioned in the text is legal support, which must be free or "affordable", in order to help migrants become legal and/or use all available legal immigration options.
Later in the text it is made clear that illegal status is itself a "vulnerability" from which the migrants need to be protected:
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Develop accessible and expedient procedures that facilitate transitions from one status to another and inform migrants of their rights and obligations, so as to prevent migrants from falling into an irregular status in the country of destination, to reduce precariousness of status and related vulnerabilities, as well as to enable individual status assessments for migrants, including for those who have fallen out of regular status, without fear of arbitrary expulsion
Build on existing practices to facilitate access for migrants in an irregular status to an individual assessment that may lead to regular status, on a case by case basis and with clear and transparent criteria, especially in cases where children, youth and families are involved, as an option to reduce vulnerabilities, as well as for States to ascertain better knowledge of the resident population
So, the countries will need to help illegal migrants become legal - because being illegal is a vulnerability. Illegal migration is described as a calamity, as an external event that threatens the migrant ("falling out of regular status") rather than as a migrant's decision to enter another country illegally.
The countries must help migrants even when the migrants have not yet reached their country of destination:
Apply specific support measures to ensure that migrants caught up in situations of crisis in countries of transit and destination have access to consular protection and humanitarian assistance, including by facilitating cross-border and broader international cooperation, as well as by taking migrant populations into account in crisis preparedness, emergency response and post-crisis action
If a migrant has left the country of origin and is presently in a second country ("country of transit"), which is presently in crisis, while a third country is designated (by whom?) as the country of destination, then the third country is obliged to help the migrant by giving "consular protection and humanitarian assistance". Presumably so that the migrant may reach the country of destination? The document does not make this clear, but "consular protection" is something that a country can only give to someone residing on some foreign territory.
It seems hardly to be expected that the country of origin would be able to give "consular protection and humanitarian assistance" to migrants that intend to leave it and go to another country. Actually, this kind of protection and assistance goes without saying. A foreign consulate of some country should always help and protect their citizens who choose to live abroad and got into any kind of trouble. So it would not be meaningful for UNGCM to reiterate this obligation.
It remains to interpret the text as follows. Whenever country 1 undertakes humanitarian help mission in a disaster-stricken country 2, where it finds migrants from country 3, the UNGCM requires that country 1 should specially seek out these migrants (above and beyond helping everyone else) and give these migrants "consular protection". This makes sense only if these migrants are ultimately to be received in country 1, and so this seems to be the intention of the UNGCM.
Save lives and establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrants
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Develop procedures and agreements on search and rescue of migrants, with the primary objective to protect migrants’ right to life that uphold the prohibition of collective expulsion, guarantee due process and individual assessments, enhance reception and assistance capacities, and ensure that the provision of assistance of an exclusively humanitarian nature for migrants is not considered unlawful
The formulation is somewhat ungrammatical (a comma before "that uphold" is missing). Inserting that comma and omitting "objective", we get "procedures ... that prohibit collective expulsion", which is grammatical.
The concept of "search and rescue of missing migrants" is meaningful only when the migrants have not yet reached the country and are "missing" outside the country's territory. Thus, UNGCM requires countries to search for migrants who might be in danger outside their borders and then to give them "reception and assistance". What kind of assistance? A migrant who is in danger while trying to enter the country illegally via a dangerous route is in need of only one kind of assistance - getting into the country, i.e. "reception" as specified in the text.
So, we find that the countries are obliged to search for migrants outside their borders who might be in danger, rescue them, and bring them into the country.
Review the impacts of migration-related policies and laws to ensure that these do not raise or create the risk of migrants going missing, including by identifying dangerous transit routes used by migrants, by working with other States as well as relevant stakeholders and international organizations to identify contextual risks and establishing mechanisms for preventing and responding to such situations
Enable migrants to communicate with their families without delay to inform them that they are alive by facilitating access to means of communication along routes and at their destination, including in places of detention, as well as access to consular missions, local authorities and organizations that can provide assistance with family contacts
The notion of "contextual risk" is undefined. Ignoring that adjective, we find the following policy:
Countries must make migration routes safe and risk-free, and must install communication points along the migration routes so that migrants can communicate with their families.
(How would they be able to communicate - e.g. by placing a free international telephone call? It will be impossible to prevent migrants from communicating with anyone else in the world, once this system is in place. Or, should there be special call centers with people who will make phone calls for migrants, trained to talk in any language? This hardly seems realistic. The document does not specify further the ways migrants should be enabled to communicate with their families.)
Strengthen the transnational response to smuggling of migrants
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Develop gender-responsive and child-sensitive cooperation protocols along migration routes that outline step-by-step measures to adequately identify and assist smuggled migrants, in accordance with international law, as well as to facilitate cross-border law enforcement and intelligence cooperation in order to prevent and counter smuggling of migrants with the aim to end impunity for smugglers and prevent irregular migration, while ensuring that counter-smuggling measures are in full respect for human rights
Design, review or amend relevant policies and procedures to distinguish between the crimes of smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons by using the correct definitions and applying distinct responses to these separate crimes, while recognizing that smuggled migrants might also become victims of trafficking in persons, therefore requiring appropriate protection and assistance
The countries will actively combat smuggling of migrants, with international cooperation to prosecute the smugglers while not prosecuting the migrants who were smuggled. In other words, the migrants (who violated the law) should not be prosecuted if they pay a smuggler. On the contrary, smuggled migrants must be "assisted" ("assisted" in doing what?). In any case, migrants are not at fault - they are "victims" of smuggling. At the same time, the crime of smuggling needs to be distinguished from the crime of human trafficking (the document does not say which crime is worse).
To be continued.
