As COVID-19 Slows Human Mobility, Can the Global Compact for Migration Meet the Test for a Changed Era?

COVID-19 fundamentally shifted the way human mobility is managed, with border closures, visa restrictions, and other migration management tools used to contain the spread—just as most countries around the world were preparing to implement the first-ever comprehensive global agreement on migration.

A new Migration Policy Institute Europe commentary asks whether the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration can meet the test of a changed era, as governments prioritize pressing public-health, economic, and other domestic considerations.

During the second half of this year, states will come together for the first time in regional review fora to present their national action plans for implementation of compact objectives. The pandemic risks lowering states’ level of ambition at a time when the momentum of the regional meetings could be used to make the pact’s value more tangible.

As many states are looking inward and reconsidering their interconnectedness with other countries, international cooperation on an already sensitive topic such as migration will only become more difficult. But as MPI Europe Associate Policy Analyst Lena Kainz writes, the pandemic also offers a chance to make the case for the necessity of the compact by showing how enhanced multilateral engagement helps governments address issues at home.

You can read this commentary here.

KJ