International Travel Security and the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees

• In Event: International Cooperation on Migration

Abstract

The proposed paper examines the influence of international cooperation to secure travel on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees recently adopted by the UN General Assembly, the extent to which international travel security is addressed by the two compacts and what potential impact the compacts may have on travel security. Given that most refugees are products of political persecution and wars, refugee policies have long been associated with the “high politics” of international security and international cooperation to secure travel has had a significant impact on ability of asylum seekers and refugees to cross borders into safety. In contrast, international relations scholars have historically considered international migration in terms of the “low politics” of labor mobility and the political influence of businesses seeking labor and tourist revenues has constrained travel and border security measures of states. Interestingly, the global compact on refugees does not have many travel security provisions while the Global Compact on migration does. The Global Compact on Migration increased the scope of international bargaining between migrant destination states that had been reluctant to commit to any international agreements on labor migration and migrant origin states that have been proponents (and signatories) of international agreements, such as the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. Taking an international relations approach that uses the prism of international regimes and issue area linkage, I argue that migrant origin states have won commitments from migrant destination states for improving conditions of guest workers by agreeing to increase cooperation on international travel security aimed at reducing irregular migration. For the first time, commitments by states to improve travel document security, collect and share traveler data and cooperate on border enforcement are in the same international instrument as labor mobility schemes, ethical recruitment, recognition of skills and cheaper transfer of remittances -- a document adopted by the UN General Assembly with 152 votes in favor to 5 against (Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Poland, United States), with 12 abstentions. Although many migrant origin states have signed onto the Transnational Organized Crime Convention’s protocols on migrant smuggling and trafficking as well as the International Civil Aviation Organization’s agreements on Machine Readable Travel Documents, the Global Compact specifically enjoins all states to improve identification and documentation including “registration of citizens and sharing biometric registrations,” and “manage borders in an integrated, secure and coordinated manner” including “pre-screening of arriving persons, pre-reporting by carriers of passengers who will be arriving and use of modern technology.” Given that the Global Compact’s goals for increasing labor migration are modest and/or non-specific with no clear mechanism articulated for states’ to collectively make voluntary commitments to accept labor migration, it falls short of establishing a labor migration regime analogous to the trade regime. It appears, however, that many migration origin countries are willing to trade certain sovereign prerogatives and make investments in their capacities to combat human smuggling and terrorist travel in order to get migration destination states to increase regulation of private sector actors who have exploited contract workers from the migrant origin countries as well as expand the rights that host countries grant to migrant workers. This bargain to expand guestworkers’ rights and protections for improved border controls may be considered a step towards an international labor migration regime but it is only a small first step that will depend on successful implementation of the Compact’s commitments and additional international agreements and commitments.

Author

• Rey Koslowski, SUNY, University at Albany