ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the contributions of the GCM and what’s missing from the compact. The GCM articulates an emerging norm of state responsibility for “safe, orderly and regular migration,” while at the same time affirming that migrants have human rights. The compact recognized, for the first time, climate change migration, the complex motivations for migration, and calls for gender-responsive migration policies. The most lasting impact from the GCM will be the architecture for addressing global migration governance. Nevertheless, the GCM falls short on several issues: the compact is missing a definition of irregular migration, does not reference the prohibition of refoulement, and does not call for privacy firewalls. In addition, protections in the compact do not apply to IDPs, internal migrants, or LGBTQ+ migrants and neglect to protect humanitarian workers from prosecution. The chapter concludes with the explanations from states on their votes for or against the GCM.
