Global and regional migration governance: an emerging multi-level structure?

Transnational migration is a global phenomenon and most migration takes place within regions. This would make migration a prime issue for regional and global migration governance; however, since it effects core issues of sovereignty, many nation-states have been reluctant to engage in multilateral collaboration. The past two decades have seen a new dynamic and a proliferation of regional and global processes which have been helped by the framing of migration as a potentially positive contribution to development. This chapter provides an overview of the nascent theories of migration governance beyond the state and traces the processes that led to the adoption of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. It discusses the (not exclusively beneficial) interplay between the regional and global levels and the role of non-state stakeholders, in particular migrant civil society. It is argued that, ultimately, multi-level migration governance must lead to concrete improvements on the ground.