TOWARD GLOBAL COMPACTS ON REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
2018 is a significant year for the global community to converge on two commitments: the Global Compact on Refugees and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The seeds for these agreements were sown in 2016 when leaders adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants which called for an international framework for cooperation by 2018. The current momentum is to adopt such compacts in the latter half of 2018, and Thailand has been completing a round of discussions as potential inputs.
Cooperation on how to deal with refugees and migrants has become a sensitive challenge for all countries, especially as many are concurrently source, transit and destination countries. The human flows have increased exponentially: the UN estimated recently that there are 250 million international migrants and 750 million internal migrants. There 25 million refugees (cross-border cases) and 40 million internally displaced persons.
The Refugee Compact will cover trans-frontier flows, particularly those pressured to leave for political reasons and related conflicts, while the Migration Compact will encompass other cases, especially those who leave for economic reasons (such as migrant workers) and for environmental pressures (such as victims of natural disasters). The situation has become more complex due to the proliferation of crimes in the form of human trafficking and smuggling.
The driving force for the two agreements is the principle advocated by the New York Declaration that “migration should be a choice and not a necessity”. Conceptually, it is not too difficult to outline the components of an international framework, as follows: prevention — to tackle the root causes behind the human movements; protection — to offer protection and assistance to people on the move; solutions — to offer pathways to constructive outcomes, both short term and long term; cooperation — to strengthen international, regional and national processes and commitments for collaboration geared to prevention, protection and solutions; and participation, not only between governments but also other stakeholders such as civil society, the private sector and those on the move.
However, the realities are much less reassuring given the complicated relationship between state sovereignty, border controls, national security, massive movements, violence and terrorism, racism and xenophobia, and nationalistic agendas that reject multilateralism, on the one hand, and human rights and human security, on the other.
There are also imbalances between developing and developed countries, particularly inequitable development patterns, compounded by pervasive poverty, and alltoo-limited resource allocations in the quest for sharing the global-local responsibility.
What tangible elements might the two compacts offer as a value-added for the world community? Various features of the emerging Refugee Compact are already visible. In essence, future directions will be to follow the “Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework” to help countries that host refugees, promote self-reliance of refugees, develop solutions involving third countries, and ensure that if refugees are to return to their country of origin, this will be done in safety and dignity.
Interlinked with these features are the issue of reception and admission of refugees, such as respect for the universal principle of “non-refoulement” which prohibits forced return of refugees to areas of danger; response to their needs; help for host countries and communities; and durable solutions. The framework is blessed with a longstanding international treaty in the form of the 1951 Refugee Convention (as amended in 1967) to which about 150 countries are parties.
The Compact will work toward a programme of action to facilitate cooperation. The World Bank will provide financial backup, while other stakeholders, such as the private sector, are being mobilised with a strategy to involve the whole of society. The role of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to ensure protection and assistance is all-important in this regard.
On another front, the role of the International Organization for Migration, which is now part of the UN system, is pivotal in helping to ensure the components of the emerging Migration Compact and take concrete form and are implemented. There is already major emphasis on safe, orderly and regular migration with key attention to protecting the rights of migrants; facilitating such migration; reducing forced and irregular migration; and tackling the issue of natural and human-induced disasters. At the same time, it is important to harness inter-sectoral cooperation among governments, while being open to broader societal cooperation and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Unlike the Refugee Compact, which is underpinned by a longstanding international treaty, the Migration Compact is not covered by a comprehensive specific treaty laying down the ground rules. But the latter will certainly not exist in a normative vacuum. There are already treaties that cover aspects of migration, for example the 1989 Child Rights Convention, the 1990 Convention concerning the rights of migrant workers and their families, and a vast range of conventions under the auspices of the International Labour Organization.
There are also the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-30, advocating protection and assistance for migrants, to which all countries are committed. These are complemented by many regional and bilateral frameworks, exemplified by Thailand’s experience in formulating a number of memoranda of understanding with its neighbours to regulate the flow of migrant workers and regularise their status. Reduction of red tape remains an inherent challenge.
A key concern is to ensure that irregular or undocumented migrants are protected from abuse and have access to the basics of life, such as birth registration, primary education, basic healthcare, safe labour conditions and equal remuneration, irrespective of their immigration status.
As highlighted by recent discussions in Thailand, the rule should be that children must not be detained even when they enter a country without immigration papers, and that they should be dealt with by welfare measures and personnel in a gender- and child-sensitive manner. The vulnerability factor deserves special attention in the Global Compacts to help manage migration flows sensibly.
Finally, there is the need to counter the negative image engendering intolerance. Through cross-cultural understanding and education from a young age, migration in its various forms should be seen as having the potential to contribute constructively to all countries without discrimination, underlining the synergy between shared benefits and shared responsibility.