A migration compact is a framework agreement, typically non-binding, in which states articulate common objectives, principles, and cooperative measures for governing the movement of people across borders. The most prominent example is the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), adopted in Marrakech in December 2018 and endorsed by the UN General Assembly on 19 December 2018 with 152 votes in favour, 5 against (United States, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Israel), and 12 abstentions. The GCM sets out 23 objectives ranging from collecting better migration data to providing legal identity, combating trafficking, and facilitating return and reintegration.
The GCM emerged from the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (UN General Assembly resolution 71/1, September 2016), which also launched a parallel process leading to the Global Compact on Refugees, affirmed by the General Assembly in December 2018. The two compacts are distinct: the GCM addresses migrants generally, while the refugee compact concerns persons fleeing persecution or conflict under the 1951 Refugee Convention framework.
Migration compacts are explicitly non-legally binding. They do not create new obligations under international law and reaffirm state sovereignty over admission and residence policies. Proponents argue they provide a 360-degree cooperative framework for a phenomenon no single state can manage alone; critics, including governments that rejected the GCM, argued it could blur the legal distinction between regular and irregular migration or create soft-law expectations.
The term is also used more loosely to describe bilateral or regional arrangements, such as EU "migration partnerships" with third countries (for example the 2016 EU–Turkey Statement or the 2023 EU–Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding), which exchange financial and technical support for cooperation on border control, returns, and readmission.
Implementation of the GCM is reviewed through the International Migration Review Forum, which convenes every four years; the first IMRF took place in May 2022 at UN Headquarters in New York.
Example
In December 2018, 152 UN member states voted in favour of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, while the United States and Hungary were among five states voting against.
Frequently asked questions
No. The Global Compact for Migration and similar instruments are explicitly non-binding and reaffirm state sovereignty over migration policy, though they create political and reporting commitments.
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