Introduction

The recent events in Ukraine have highlighted in stark terms the links between national security, energy security, food security and the catastrophic effects on the human security of Ukrainians but also for many other societies around the world.¹ As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, conflict and violence in one country or region is more likely than ever to have ripple effects in other parts of the world. At a time when food crop supply chains are the most globalized in history,² the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has highlighted the devastating impacts on food and human security for many parts of the developing world.³

As outlined in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of this report, Europe, Asia, Africa and South America continue to experience mass displacement of people caused by conflict and violence as well as for other reasons, such as (climate-related) disasters and political and economic crises.⁴ Human rights frameworks established decades ago provide sound and effective standards for safeguarding human security, including those of migrants, with migration and mobility being embedded in core human rights treaties and frameworks spanning decades.⁵ The protection of migrants has also been advanced through broader global processes, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and, more recently, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Nevertheless, ongoing global transformations related to geopolitical upheavals, technological advances and environmental degradation are eroding human security and altering migration and security dynamics.⁶ These transformations are also occurring at a moment when multiple crises are affecting the world, with some analysts arguing we have entered an era of “permacrisis”.⁷ Though some interest groups promulgate the myth that international migration undermines the national security of countries or communities, evidence demonstrates that the most significant links between migration and security relate to human security, rather than national security.⁸ In fact, human security is being challenged right throughout the migration cycle – from pre-departure, transit, entry, stay and return – and across a wide variety of migration and mobility settings regardless of policy category.⁹

In this chapter, we set out to re-examine migration and human security at a time when misinformation and disinformation about migration and migrants are both increasing and increasingly effective.¹⁰ In the face of deliberately skewed negative discussions on migration and migrants, one can lose sight of the fact that human endeavours to improve peace and prosperity in modern times that are underpinned by migration have been on the whole successful. It is also easy to lose sight of the fact that international migration remains a relatively uncommon phenomenon, with a mere 3.6 per cent of the world’s population being international migrants (see Chapter 2 of this report for details).¹¹ Further, most international migration takes place in safe, orderly and regular conditions; migration can also improve human security, sometimes significantly so. However, we cannot shy away from another important fact: some migration processes are detrimental to the human security of migrants, which is why the international community is committed to the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration.

The next section describes key concepts related to migration and human security, providing a brief summary of the increasing securitization of migration. We then examine the links between migration, mobility and human security, before outlining how migrants’ human security is affected throughout the migration cycle, in pre-departure, transit, entry, stay and return processes. The chapter then discusses policies that facilitate a human security approach, before outlining the implications for policy and practice.