Labour, Migration and Development: An Analysis of the Role of International Organizations and Civil Society

Abstract

Migration is one of the most striking manifestations of globalization. Every day, it demonstrates the importance of transnational, trans-boundary dynamics which call for international cooperation. Yet, it may be seen as a sovereign field par excellence: states are still the primary actors and there is ‘no formal or coherent multilateral institutional framework regulating [their] responses to international migration’ and no World Migration Organization to help in this regard (Betts, 2011, pp. 1–3). Sovereign states retain a significant degree of autonomy in determining their migration policies. Moreover, global migration governance ‘suffers from significant fragmentation both vertically — with actors at the international, regional and local levels — and horizontally — with the phenomenon addressed in part or, more rarely, as a whole under the auspices of a range of other “policy categories” and associated institutions’ (McAdam, 2009, p. 1). However, this does not mean that there is absolutely no international regulation or ‘governance’ in this field. Nor does it mean that states are the only relevant actors. Indeed, international organizations and civil society organizations have always had an important role in the field of migration, in relation not only to protection matters and human rights but also in working and advocating on labour and development issues. This role has expanded substantially over the past few decades as states increasingly came to recognize the importance of migration issues and the necessity to adopt inclusive and cooperative approaches to the challenges faced.