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The UN migration compact. Part 2
Part 1
Pages 17-18:
Strengthen certainty and predictability in migration procedures for appropriate screening, assessment and referral
The 10 action items focus on punitive measures towards "perpetrators" of human trafficking. The perpetrators do not include migrants themselves, who should instead receive "protection and assistance". The crimes of "trafficking in persons" and "smuggling of migrants" are to be clearly distinguished. It is stressed twice that migrants are victims of trafficking and must receive protection and assistance, not punished; the victims of trafficking are not required to help persecute traffickers; and the victims must be able to remain in the country of destination "temporarily or permanently", and receive "redress and compensation".
This provision appears to create a moral hazard for migrants to engage with traffickers, since this will entitle migrants to stay in a "country of destination" and to receive a compensation. This provision also appears to be a novelty in jurisprudence: I don't think that victims of any crime are ever entitled to become residents of the country where the crime was committed, or to receive compensation from the state.
Pages 18-19:
Manage borders in an integrated, secure and coordinated manner
The purpose of managing borders is to facilitate "safe and regular cross-border movements of people while preventing irregular migration". The border management policies must respect national sovereignty and the rule of law, and at the same time respect the rights of migrants "regardless of their migration status".
The 7 action items focus on building more capacity for assistance and protection of "migrants in situations of vulnerability" at the borders; to be able to process arriving migrants faster using "pre-screening" (i.e. knowing in advance who is arriving); but screening and other border control procedures should be revised to become "non-discriminatory" (meaning, not refusing anyone?) and to emphasize due process. More capacity must be built for search and rescue, reuniting families in case of child separation. Sanctions for "irregular entry or stay" (i.e. illegal immigration) must be revised to determine "whether they are appropriate" (i.e. it is assumed that sometimes they are not appropriate) and to "ensure that they are proportionate, equitable, non-discriminatory, and fully consistent with due process".
It is never mentioned or implied that immigration procedures might be too permissive; but it is implied that immigration procedures must be made more permissive.
Pages 19-20:
Strengthen certainty and predictability in migration procedures for appropriate screening, assessment and referral
Among the 5 action items, three focus on telling migrants about their options and the requirements for legal immigration, but two action items instead talk about helping victims of human trafficking and about helping children separated from families, repeating the requirements already made elsewhere.
Page 20:
Use immigration detention only as a measure of last resort and work towards alternatives
The 8 action items demand that detention of immigrants should become as short as possible or should be avoided; detention should not be used as a deterrent to immigration; instead, "alternatives to detention" must be used (the list of "human rights-based alternatives" is yet to be worked out by various governments). Detained migrants must have easy access to food, basic healthcare, lawyers, and consular services. "Independent monitoring" of detention (by whom?) must be performed to ensure that detention is only used as a last resort and that detained migrants have all the rights. A "human-rights based" alternative to detention can only mean one thing in the spirit of this document - namely, that the immigrant is allowed to reside in the country.
Page 21:
Enhance consular protection, assistance and cooperation throughout the migration cycle
The 6 action items focus on requiring states to expand and strengthen their consular services in order to help migrants.
There is a confusion in this part of the text about which countries should strengthen their services: the countries whose citizens migrate, or the countries of destination. It is said that "where States lack capacity" other States must help. For example, by this logic, Germany must help Afghanistan and Somali to build up and expand their consular services in Germany so that the migrants arriving to Germany have access to consular help from their respective governments when they want to open a bank account or send money home.
The concept of "migration cycle" is mentioned here for the first time and not explained in any way, and is not referred to in the text any more.
Page 22:
Provide access to basic services for migrants
The 6 action items focus on ensuring that illegal migrants have access to "basic services", similarly to legal migrants. It is not specified what exactly the "basic services" must be; however, it is implied by the text that the "basic services" include healthcare (including mental health) and education (including academic, vocational, and language training).
The text acknowledges that "nationals and regular migrants may be entitled to more comprehensive service provision" than illegal migrants. At the same time, the text includes provisions that prevent States from discriminating illegal migrants: there should be no discrimination on any basis (including race, country of birth, religion, and political opinions; but it is easy to portray discrimination against illegal migrants as racism, or as discrimination against a country of origin, etc.), and moreover "vulnerabilities" of illegal migrants should not be "exacerbated" by "compromising their safe access to basic services". In particular, health services should be built up to increase their capacity and to ensure "culture-sensitive service delivery", and educational opportunities must be expanded to accommodate migrants' "lifelong learning" needs.
Page 23:
Empower migrants and societies to realize full inclusion and social cohesion
The description and the action items are mutually contradictory. It is stated that the goal is "to foster inclusive and cohesive societies by empowering migrants to become active members of society" and to promote "observance of national laws and respect for customs of the country of destination". At the same time, it is required to "promote mutual respect for the cultures, traditions and customs of communities of destination and of migrants". This cannot be done at the same time: either we respect the customs of the country of destination, or we respect the customs of the country of origin, but we cannot do both. The remainder of this section makes the priorities clear: namely, the cultures of migrants have priority. Only one of the 9 action items talks about teaching migrants "rights and obligations, basic language training, as well as orientation about social norms and customs in the country of destination ". All other action items require the countries to adapt to the migrants, to become more accepting and more "inclusive", and to become "multicultural", - more concretely to establish community programs for "inter-cultural dialogue", "sharing of stories", music, culinary festivals and so on. Also, labor markets must adapt to become more "inclusive", to adapt to migrants' existing skills, and to be able to include migrant women at the workplace. Family reunification, education and health care access for migrants are again stressed as goals, i.e. the countries of destination have to adapt their respective systems for the presence of migrants.
Page 24:
Eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse to shape perceptions of migration
Countries commit to eliminating "expressions, acts and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, violence, xenophobia and related intolerance against all migrants". At the same time, there is a commitment to "freedom of expression" and "open and free debate". The prohibited acts are hate crimes, incitements to violence, intolerance, xenophobia, racism, and "other forms of discrimination towards migrants". The action items specify that media should be controlled to prevent promoting these acts and also to be "sensitive" to the "migration-related terminology", i.e. to institute a form of language police, - but "in full respect for the freedom of the media", which is an obvious contradiction.
Profiling of migrants is not acceptable. Migrants should have easy access to media for complaining about discrimination. Propaganda must be spread to emphasize positive effects of "safe, orderly and regular migration" (note again the connotation of "regular" with "occurring on a daily basis") and to counter stigmatization of migrants. Evidence should be only presented in the correct direction. Migrants should be engaged in activities that denounce discrimination and promote "mutual respect", "including in the context of electoral campaigns". There are no clarifications about what "in the context" means. The meaning seems to be that migrants should be politically active in elections; it should become normal for migrants to become elected officials.
Page 25:
Invest in skills development and facilitate mutual recognition of skills, qualifications and competences
It must become easier to recognize diplomas and other qualifications - including "non-formally acquired skills" (what's that?) - from foreign countries. Countries should have agreements and create international tests to determine skills and qualifications more easily. Two of the action items (e, f) say that countries should help build training facilities in foreign countries to prepare migrants for the new job markets. Two further action items say that there should be more cross-country academic exchange and online skills development and language training. Item (i) is unique in that it gives migrants a right not usually available to citizens (employers should make it easier for a migrant worker to change jobs by preparing a summary of skills acquired on the job). Items (k) and (l) state that countries should establish screening mechanisms that would give migrants job skill assessments in their country of origin - prior to their departure, and maintain documents about skills such that the migrant can be taken up in the job market in a country of destination. (In other words, train and recruit migrants early on, creating and facilitating the brain drain in their country of origin.)
Page 26:
Create conditions for migrants and diasporas to fully contribute to sustainable development in all countries
The text postulates that migration is "a source of sustainable development". Most of the 10 action items focus on creating new bureaucratic structures and activities around the topic of "sustainable development" that do not actually imply any specific policies but contain instructions for local officials about what bureaucratic activities to organize. The key word is "strengthening government structures or mechanisms at all levels". For instance, countries should develop "targeted support programs that facilitate diaspora investments and entrepreneurship", "organize dedicated trade fairs", create "local diaspora offices", "diaspora policy advisory boards", "diaspora focal points", research the positive effects of migration in order to "strengthen global policy discussions", and so on.
Page 27:
Promote faster, safer and cheaper transfer of remittances and foster financial inclusion of migrants
As vague as it was in the previous section, at this point the text becomes extremely specific: Countries must make it possible for migrants to send money home with no more than 3% commission. In order to do that, countries should undertake a massive government intervention into the remittance market - including making it "gender-responsive" (so that women too can send money home). Countries should also invest money into remittance infrastructure at countries of migrants' origins, so that the money sent home will be properly invested there. The last action item (i) requires countries to provide banking services specially designed for migrants, "in cooperation with the banking sector", which means that the government will require private banks to do business with "low-income" migrants so that they can also open accounts. The legal status of migrants is never mentioned in this section of the text; illegal immigrants appear to be included.
Page 29:
Cooperate in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration
The 9 action items focus on two topics: first, to make sure that the return procedures (i.e. deportation) are only applied as late as possible, after all legal appeals are exhausted, and always individual ("prohibition of collective expulsion"), "gender-responsive", "child-sensitive", and "safe and dignified". Second, to make sure that illegal immigrants obtain travel passports that allow them to return. It is required that the countries of origin should cooperate in identifying illegal immigrants, giving them passports, and accepting them back when they return.
Actually, a migrant should only return home if the country of origin can provide a safe residence to the migrant (no "real and foreseeable risk of death, torture, and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, or other irreparable harm"). Countries should also create voluntary return programs that help returning migrants, and also ensure that returning individuals can be reintegrated into their country of origin.
These requirements appear to fly in the face of logic, since much of the migration happens precisely because the individuals can't find their economic niche in their countries, or because their countries are troubled and are unable to provide them with dignified life. It is unrealistic to expect that a country would be able to provide extra welcoming assistance to a returning migrant who previously left that country looking for a better life. Also, this requirement will prohibit deportation if a migrant claims to be from a country at war, or if the migrant claims to be at risk, or if there is a bilateral "return agreement" with the country of origin that stipulates certain conditions for return that are not met. Countries of origin are hardly interested in incentivizing the return of migrants that manage to stay abroad and send money home.
The word "deportation" is not used in the document; instead the word "return" is used, with no indication whether it is voluntary. In one part of the action items, "return" is understood to be deportation; in another part, "return" is understood to be a voluntary decision of a migrant.
Page 30:
Establish mechanisms for the portability of social security entitlements and earned benefits
The welfare systems and retirement benefits must include migrant workers on the same basis as native workers. Benefits such as retirement and healthcare should be made transferrable between countries.
How this could possibly work between completely different social and economic systems of different countries? Via bilateral and multilateral agreements; and in any case, each country is obliged to provide these benefits to migrant workers. The results would be that workers will tend to migrate into countries with the highest social benefits, regardless of how much they have actually earned, claiming that their benefits are "portable".
Page 31:
Strengthen international cooperation and global partnerships for safe, orderly and regular migration
No specific policy is proposed.
Bureaucrats of all countries will unite in supporting each other, strengthening the revitalized global partnership and the spirit of solidarity, etc.etc.
Pages 32-33:
Implementation
The UN will create a new office ("UN network on migration") that will coordinate and develop various programs in each country, and a new "startup fund" for budgeting these programs. The money will come from voluntary contributions of the member states. The General Assembly of the UN will hold an "International Migration Review Forum" biannually to review the progress in the implementation of the Compact.
Part 1
Pages 17-18:
Strengthen certainty and predictability in migration procedures for appropriate screening, assessment and referral
The 10 action items focus on punitive measures towards "perpetrators" of human trafficking. The perpetrators do not include migrants themselves, who should instead receive "protection and assistance". The crimes of "trafficking in persons" and "smuggling of migrants" are to be clearly distinguished. It is stressed twice that migrants are victims of trafficking and must receive protection and assistance, not punished; the victims of trafficking are not required to help persecute traffickers; and the victims must be able to remain in the country of destination "temporarily or permanently", and receive "redress and compensation".
This provision appears to create a moral hazard for migrants to engage with traffickers, since this will entitle migrants to stay in a "country of destination" and to receive a compensation. This provision also appears to be a novelty in jurisprudence: I don't think that victims of any crime are ever entitled to become residents of the country where the crime was committed, or to receive compensation from the state.
Pages 18-19:
Manage borders in an integrated, secure and coordinated manner
The purpose of managing borders is to facilitate "safe and regular cross-border movements of people while preventing irregular migration". The border management policies must respect national sovereignty and the rule of law, and at the same time respect the rights of migrants "regardless of their migration status".
The 7 action items focus on building more capacity for assistance and protection of "migrants in situations of vulnerability" at the borders; to be able to process arriving migrants faster using "pre-screening" (i.e. knowing in advance who is arriving); but screening and other border control procedures should be revised to become "non-discriminatory" (meaning, not refusing anyone?) and to emphasize due process. More capacity must be built for search and rescue, reuniting families in case of child separation. Sanctions for "irregular entry or stay" (i.e. illegal immigration) must be revised to determine "whether they are appropriate" (i.e. it is assumed that sometimes they are not appropriate) and to "ensure that they are proportionate, equitable, non-discriminatory, and fully consistent with due process".
It is never mentioned or implied that immigration procedures might be too permissive; but it is implied that immigration procedures must be made more permissive.
Pages 19-20:
Strengthen certainty and predictability in migration procedures for appropriate screening, assessment and referral
Among the 5 action items, three focus on telling migrants about their options and the requirements for legal immigration, but two action items instead talk about helping victims of human trafficking and about helping children separated from families, repeating the requirements already made elsewhere.
Page 20:
Use immigration detention only as a measure of last resort and work towards alternatives
The 8 action items demand that detention of immigrants should become as short as possible or should be avoided; detention should not be used as a deterrent to immigration; instead, "alternatives to detention" must be used (the list of "human rights-based alternatives" is yet to be worked out by various governments). Detained migrants must have easy access to food, basic healthcare, lawyers, and consular services. "Independent monitoring" of detention (by whom?) must be performed to ensure that detention is only used as a last resort and that detained migrants have all the rights. A "human-rights based" alternative to detention can only mean one thing in the spirit of this document - namely, that the immigrant is allowed to reside in the country.
Page 21:
Enhance consular protection, assistance and cooperation throughout the migration cycle
The 6 action items focus on requiring states to expand and strengthen their consular services in order to help migrants.
There is a confusion in this part of the text about which countries should strengthen their services: the countries whose citizens migrate, or the countries of destination. It is said that "where States lack capacity" other States must help. For example, by this logic, Germany must help Afghanistan and Somali to build up and expand their consular services in Germany so that the migrants arriving to Germany have access to consular help from their respective governments when they want to open a bank account or send money home.
The concept of "migration cycle" is mentioned here for the first time and not explained in any way, and is not referred to in the text any more.
Page 22:
Provide access to basic services for migrants
The 6 action items focus on ensuring that illegal migrants have access to "basic services", similarly to legal migrants. It is not specified what exactly the "basic services" must be; however, it is implied by the text that the "basic services" include healthcare (including mental health) and education (including academic, vocational, and language training).
The text acknowledges that "nationals and regular migrants may be entitled to more comprehensive service provision" than illegal migrants. At the same time, the text includes provisions that prevent States from discriminating illegal migrants: there should be no discrimination on any basis (including race, country of birth, religion, and political opinions; but it is easy to portray discrimination against illegal migrants as racism, or as discrimination against a country of origin, etc.), and moreover "vulnerabilities" of illegal migrants should not be "exacerbated" by "compromising their safe access to basic services". In particular, health services should be built up to increase their capacity and to ensure "culture-sensitive service delivery", and educational opportunities must be expanded to accommodate migrants' "lifelong learning" needs.
Page 23:
Empower migrants and societies to realize full inclusion and social cohesion
The description and the action items are mutually contradictory. It is stated that the goal is "to foster inclusive and cohesive societies by empowering migrants to become active members of society" and to promote "observance of national laws and respect for customs of the country of destination". At the same time, it is required to "promote mutual respect for the cultures, traditions and customs of communities of destination and of migrants". This cannot be done at the same time: either we respect the customs of the country of destination, or we respect the customs of the country of origin, but we cannot do both. The remainder of this section makes the priorities clear: namely, the cultures of migrants have priority. Only one of the 9 action items talks about teaching migrants "rights and obligations, basic language training, as well as orientation about social norms and customs in the country of destination ". All other action items require the countries to adapt to the migrants, to become more accepting and more "inclusive", and to become "multicultural", - more concretely to establish community programs for "inter-cultural dialogue", "sharing of stories", music, culinary festivals and so on. Also, labor markets must adapt to become more "inclusive", to adapt to migrants' existing skills, and to be able to include migrant women at the workplace. Family reunification, education and health care access for migrants are again stressed as goals, i.e. the countries of destination have to adapt their respective systems for the presence of migrants.
Page 24:
Eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse to shape perceptions of migration
Countries commit to eliminating "expressions, acts and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, violence, xenophobia and related intolerance against all migrants". At the same time, there is a commitment to "freedom of expression" and "open and free debate". The prohibited acts are hate crimes, incitements to violence, intolerance, xenophobia, racism, and "other forms of discrimination towards migrants". The action items specify that media should be controlled to prevent promoting these acts and also to be "sensitive" to the "migration-related terminology", i.e. to institute a form of language police, - but "in full respect for the freedom of the media", which is an obvious contradiction.
Profiling of migrants is not acceptable. Migrants should have easy access to media for complaining about discrimination. Propaganda must be spread to emphasize positive effects of "safe, orderly and regular migration" (note again the connotation of "regular" with "occurring on a daily basis") and to counter stigmatization of migrants. Evidence should be only presented in the correct direction. Migrants should be engaged in activities that denounce discrimination and promote "mutual respect", "including in the context of electoral campaigns". There are no clarifications about what "in the context" means. The meaning seems to be that migrants should be politically active in elections; it should become normal for migrants to become elected officials.
Page 25:
Invest in skills development and facilitate mutual recognition of skills, qualifications and competences
It must become easier to recognize diplomas and other qualifications - including "non-formally acquired skills" (what's that?) - from foreign countries. Countries should have agreements and create international tests to determine skills and qualifications more easily. Two of the action items (e, f) say that countries should help build training facilities in foreign countries to prepare migrants for the new job markets. Two further action items say that there should be more cross-country academic exchange and online skills development and language training. Item (i) is unique in that it gives migrants a right not usually available to citizens (employers should make it easier for a migrant worker to change jobs by preparing a summary of skills acquired on the job). Items (k) and (l) state that countries should establish screening mechanisms that would give migrants job skill assessments in their country of origin - prior to their departure, and maintain documents about skills such that the migrant can be taken up in the job market in a country of destination. (In other words, train and recruit migrants early on, creating and facilitating the brain drain in their country of origin.)
Page 26:
Create conditions for migrants and diasporas to fully contribute to sustainable development in all countries
The text postulates that migration is "a source of sustainable development". Most of the 10 action items focus on creating new bureaucratic structures and activities around the topic of "sustainable development" that do not actually imply any specific policies but contain instructions for local officials about what bureaucratic activities to organize. The key word is "strengthening government structures or mechanisms at all levels". For instance, countries should develop "targeted support programs that facilitate diaspora investments and entrepreneurship", "organize dedicated trade fairs", create "local diaspora offices", "diaspora policy advisory boards", "diaspora focal points", research the positive effects of migration in order to "strengthen global policy discussions", and so on.
Page 27:
Promote faster, safer and cheaper transfer of remittances and foster financial inclusion of migrants
As vague as it was in the previous section, at this point the text becomes extremely specific: Countries must make it possible for migrants to send money home with no more than 3% commission. In order to do that, countries should undertake a massive government intervention into the remittance market - including making it "gender-responsive" (so that women too can send money home). Countries should also invest money into remittance infrastructure at countries of migrants' origins, so that the money sent home will be properly invested there. The last action item (i) requires countries to provide banking services specially designed for migrants, "in cooperation with the banking sector", which means that the government will require private banks to do business with "low-income" migrants so that they can also open accounts. The legal status of migrants is never mentioned in this section of the text; illegal immigrants appear to be included.
Page 29:
Cooperate in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration
The 9 action items focus on two topics: first, to make sure that the return procedures (i.e. deportation) are only applied as late as possible, after all legal appeals are exhausted, and always individual ("prohibition of collective expulsion"), "gender-responsive", "child-sensitive", and "safe and dignified". Second, to make sure that illegal immigrants obtain travel passports that allow them to return. It is required that the countries of origin should cooperate in identifying illegal immigrants, giving them passports, and accepting them back when they return.
Actually, a migrant should only return home if the country of origin can provide a safe residence to the migrant (no "real and foreseeable risk of death, torture, and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, or other irreparable harm"). Countries should also create voluntary return programs that help returning migrants, and also ensure that returning individuals can be reintegrated into their country of origin.
These requirements appear to fly in the face of logic, since much of the migration happens precisely because the individuals can't find their economic niche in their countries, or because their countries are troubled and are unable to provide them with dignified life. It is unrealistic to expect that a country would be able to provide extra welcoming assistance to a returning migrant who previously left that country looking for a better life. Also, this requirement will prohibit deportation if a migrant claims to be from a country at war, or if the migrant claims to be at risk, or if there is a bilateral "return agreement" with the country of origin that stipulates certain conditions for return that are not met. Countries of origin are hardly interested in incentivizing the return of migrants that manage to stay abroad and send money home.
The word "deportation" is not used in the document; instead the word "return" is used, with no indication whether it is voluntary. In one part of the action items, "return" is understood to be deportation; in another part, "return" is understood to be a voluntary decision of a migrant.
Page 30:
Establish mechanisms for the portability of social security entitlements and earned benefits
The welfare systems and retirement benefits must include migrant workers on the same basis as native workers. Benefits such as retirement and healthcare should be made transferrable between countries.
How this could possibly work between completely different social and economic systems of different countries? Via bilateral and multilateral agreements; and in any case, each country is obliged to provide these benefits to migrant workers. The results would be that workers will tend to migrate into countries with the highest social benefits, regardless of how much they have actually earned, claiming that their benefits are "portable".
Page 31:
Strengthen international cooperation and global partnerships for safe, orderly and regular migration
No specific policy is proposed.
Bureaucrats of all countries will unite in supporting each other, strengthening the revitalized global partnership and the spirit of solidarity, etc.etc.
Pages 32-33:
Implementation
The UN will create a new office ("UN network on migration") that will coordinate and develop various programs in each country, and a new "startup fund" for budgeting these programs. The money will come from voluntary contributions of the member states. The General Assembly of the UN will hold an "International Migration Review Forum" biannually to review the progress in the implementation of the Compact.
