Migration Governance Transformation Through and Beyond the UN Global Compacts: Multilateralism and Minilateralism

ABSTRACT This article examines transformations in contemporary global migration governance, with a particular focus on the effectiveness, robustness and democratic credentials of the UN Global Compacts on Migration and on Refugees. We examine valuable innovations, such as the workings of regularly organised platforms, which adopt a ‘whole of society’ approach to facilitate discussion and pledges on migration and refugee policies. We analyse ongoing challenges to the Compacts' effectiveness and robustness, such as the lack of effective accountability mechanisms, and the impact of declining funding for multilateral cooperation. Despite these challenges, we illustrate how major reform of the Global Compacts, or even targeted institutional adjustments, seem unlikely. Instead, our research explores practice from the United States, Australia and the European Union, on ‘minilateral’, or even bilateral avenues for cooperation around migration. As currently practised, these arrangements further weaken the effectiveness and robustness of the global migration governance system yet fail to provide their own effective and robust modes of governance.