ABSTRACT
International migration remains a bastion of national sovereignty, with states reluctant to give up control over entry into their territory. Although international cooperation on migration is tenuous, states have collaborated to a greater extent on international travel and border management. This chapter enumerates the multilateral, regional, and bilateral agreements among states, governing both international travel and international migration, as well as the international organizations that states have designated to act on their behalf on migration issues (international governance relating to refugees is covered in Chapter 4). This chapter also includes an overview of migrant associations that attempt to organize governance “from the bottom up.” To explain the paucity of international cooperation on migration, theorists point to unique migration profiles of states; the nature of externalities associated with these migration profiles, and the opposing interests of countries of origin and countries of destination. In contrast, theorists cite reciprocity and common interests as the central determinants of the travel regime. Continuing issues include an evaluation of the prospects for the newest multilateral construction of global governance, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM); continuing efforts to protect migrant rights; and the appropriate channels for mobilization.
