World Migration Report 2024: Chapter 8
Impact of the Global Commission on International Migration
The work of the GCIM set the basis for other processes that followed after the publication of the GCIM report in December 2005. From the three-fold mandate of the GCIM to the report recommendations, its wide implications for migration governance are visible in the Global Compact for Migration and IMRF processes. Nevertheless, States were and remain reluctant to delegate formal regulatory authority over migration to a global supranational authority, and some have observed that “discussions about international governance of migration thus have tended to focus on institutional architecture for cooperation and/or common underlying principles.”33 Others have identified four key limits to national migration governance – minimal intergovernmental cooperation; insufficient policymaking coordination; lack of capacity to maximize migration benefits (especially in lower income States); a lack of international policy coherence – and have argued for GCIM implementation in place of national governance systems.34
The Global Commission on International Migration and its results
The GCIM 2005 report, “Migration in an interconnected world: New directions for action”, highlighted the Commission’s key issues regarding migration and development: migration, economic growth and the labour market, irregular migration, migrants in society; migrant protection, as well as migration governance. Some proposals were also outlined alongside key conclusions, with a clear stance and emphasis on migration policies.
The Commission’s principal conclusion was that migration policies must be based on shared objectives and have a common vision. It therefore proposed a comprehensive, coherent and global framework based on six principles for action and 33 related recommendations.
The GCIM report concluded that “the international community has failed to realize the full potential of international migration and has not risen to the opportunities and challenges of migration”. The Commission recommended that “greater coherence, cooperation and capacity are required for the more effective governance of migration, at the national, regional and global levels”.a
The sixth action from the GCIM report – “Creating coherence: The governance of international migration” – remains relevant today. This action was centred on three pillars: strengthened capacity at the national level, improved engagement between States at the regional level, and more robust cooperation between States and international actors at the global level. The six recommendations under this principle consider the intersection between international migration and development within the wider policy arenas of trade, aid, State security, human security and human rights.
The GCIM report highlighted that human security concerns associated with international migration need to be addressed more fully, particularly in light of other key policy issues, including State security, aid, trade and human rights. The emphasis on human security has had an impact on leveraging political momentum at the global level to address migration challenges and to provide protection to vulnerable migrants.
The report also provided a strong basis for global cooperation to which States – and the international community in general – responded in different ways: some have upheld the ideas of the report, and engaged in clusters to address migration challenges; others have not taken up GCIM recommendations, or depart from those recommendations with regard to contentious issues (such as the migrants’ rights perspective). It is well recognized that the GCIM set the agenda for the first United Nations General Assembly High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, influencing the chair’s conclusions and thus setting the agenda for subsequent work on global governance. The GCIM also stimulated the debate on global governance of migration among States; however, it did not result in a formal, coherent, multilateral framework governing migration.35