Global migrations and governance

The history of migrations dates back as far as human history itself. Today, migrations stand out as one of the most pressing issues for policymakers worldwide, sparking a highly contentious and polarised debate. The surge in modern migration can be attributed to decolonization, modernization, uneven development, and globalization. There have been major shifts in global migratory patterns in terms of volume, diversity, and geographical spread. Migrations cannot be perceived as an isolated phenomenon.
International Migrants’ Day, celebrated annually in December, highlights the presence of over 280 million migrants and nearly 65 million internally displaced people (IDPs). Notably, 54% of IDPs, or 35 million, are from Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria. They are often forced to move due to political instability, conflict, violence, or environmental disasters.

The world seems to be on the move, as migration has never been as pervasive, and this has been due to a variety of push and pull factors: economic, social, cultural, environmental, political, technological, and demographic. Population movements are a key dynamic in the age of globalisation, and migration has always been difficult to measure.

Unlike past migratory patterns, contemporary movements are not confined to internal boundaries but extend regionally and globally, impacting demographics, economies, environments, politics, societies, and culture. This has raised questions about national identity. Europe, for example, is facing one of its largest and most complex displacement crises. The US is grappling with nearly 11 million undocumented migrants. The number of people crossing borders for better economic opportunities has increased.

Some countries, like Mexico, lie on the path of transit migration to the US and Canada. This makes Mexico City a vital geopolitical player in the Americas in this context. Mexico strangely faces three categories of migrants: regular migrants (who are in Mexico permanently), irregular migrants (who may or may not be in transit), and asylum seekers and refugees. Many migrants have dearly paid with their lives trying to cross the treacherous Darien Gap that connects the two Americas. Hence, migration drivers can alter the salience of migrations.

Geopolitical consequences are frequently downplayed. Migratory flows are a major reason for inter-state tensions, especially in regions like West Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia. The Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries, such as Pakistan, for example, have been a longstanding source of tension. This is playing out in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, when two million Afghan refugees were asked to leave Pakistan. Tensions remain in Turkey with almost 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

Beyond historical bilateral corridors—like the Francophones going to France and the Anglophones going to the UK—climate change is reshaping contemporary migratory patterns. A recent World Bank report estimates that by 2050, almost 200 million people could be displaced due to erratic weather patterns. In other words, almost 40% of the world’s population resides in regions prone to high degrees of climate vulnerability, leading to increasing numbers of ‘climate refugees’ and ‘environmental migrants’. Besides climate change, various types of conflicts also contribute to international migrations. Some societies are increasingly becoming xenophobic, while others recognise the contribution that migrants can make.

The scale of contemporary migrations is such that it puts immense pressure on existing regulatory frameworks like the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol, with an emphasis on the principle of non-refoulment. Technically, migrants enjoy rights in their state of origin, transit states, and host countries. However, the 2022 Global Risks Report contends that fractures within the international community and national-interest postures impact the global capacity to meet such challenges. Of late, national-level barriers to migration have increased in the light of nativist arguments and the national interest policies of the destination countries. Fierce debates are underway about the pressures on the civic authorities regarding employment, resources, education, health facilities, and welfare measures. Formulating a proactive, coordinated, coherent, and inclusive migration policy remains a challenge. States also have to individually and collectively work towards strengthening national, regional, and global regulatory institutions and mechanisms. Countries grapple with issues like cultural relativism, levels of acceptance, xenophobic tendencies, and prejudices against particular social and cultural identities. Migration issues have also been politicized and securitized, with an emphasis on state sovereignty and national interests. Hence, addressing the issues of global governance from a holistic perspective is critical to ensuring better migration governance.

(M J Vinod is a professor, and Lakshmi Karlekar is a research scholar in the Dept. of International Relations, Political Science, and History at Christ (deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru)