Introduction

Since 2000, international migration worldwide has increased by 49%, which, in 2017, represented 258 million people living, either voluntarily or forcibly, in a country other than their country of birth.[1] In 2017, 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide due to persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. Of these, 40 million were internally displaced persons (IDPs), 25.4 million were refugees and 3.1 million were asylum-seekers. The number of new displacements in 2017 was equivalent to an average of 44,400 people being forced to flee their homes every day or 31 people displaced every minute.[2]

It is in this context that the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (the Committee) started its study on migration challenges and opportunities for Canada in the 21st century.[3] As part of its study, the Committee decided[4] to examine the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (the Global Compact on Migration or GCM) as well as the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). This interim report, based on the testimony of 14 witnesses heard between 6 to 29 November 2018 and four briefs, provides an overview of these two international instruments and highlights Canada’s role.

The Global Compacts

Since the Second World War, the international community has established an international protection regime, which includes the 1951 United Nations (UN) Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, regional refugee treaties and other human rights instruments.[5] However, more than 65 years later, countries face increasingly complex mixed flows of migration, which include economic migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees in protracted situations, as there is no overarching agreement at the international community to manage and govern worldwide migration.[6] The Global Compacts create a structure for global migration, by proposing to better respond to migration through international cooperation.[7] These new frameworks will provide an innovative way to respond to the movement of people in a manner that is safe, effective and predictable,[8] but also equitable and sustainable.[9]

The Global Compacts aim “to complement each other on issues relevant to both, such as addressing xenophobia and intolerance, trafficking and smuggling, rescue at sea, and data collection and analysis.”[10] According to witnesses who appeared before the Committee, by ensuring effective migration and asylum regimes as well as receptive and integrating communities for people on the move, states, local communities and migrants will all benefit.[11]

From the very beginning, Canada participated in and contributed to the development of these two international instruments. To inform the government’s negotiation position, Global Affairs Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada consulted provincial, territorial and municipal governments as well as representatives from civil society organizations and academia from across the country.[12] Among other things, Canada advocated for gender sensitivity throughout the consultations to ensure there are measures to advance gender equality and facilitate active participation of women and youth in migration responses.[13]

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

This endeavour is led by a Canadian, the UN Special Representative for International Migration, Louise Arbour, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in close consultation with UN member states (Appendix A). The Global Compact on Migration is expected to be adopted at the Intergovernmental Conference in Morocco on 10 December 2018.[14]

Building on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals[15] and on the 2016 New York Declaration,[16] the GCM sets out 23 objectives (Appendix B). These objectives are followed by a range of actions considered to be relevant policy instruments and best practices. The Committee heard that the Government of Canada trusts that this Compact will strengthen the rule of law, foster safe, orderly and regular migration, and deter irregular migration worldwide. This international instrument is a demonstration of trust and goodwill among countries, but also towards the migrants, refugees and those who seek asylum.[17]

The Global Compact on Refugees

Led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, in close consultation with countries and other stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations, the Global Compact on Refugees is a non-binding agreement with four parts: (i) a statement of guiding principles and objectives; (ii) the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework; (iii) a programme of action to help meet the objectives of the Compact; and (iv) arrangements for a Global Refugee Forum every four years. It will be presented for adoption at the UN General Assembly in December 2018. Building on the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the GCR strengthens the existing international protection regime and provides modern-day means to assist the countries and communities who receive the largest numbers of refugees to ensure basic protection needs are met.[18] Through this Compact, states (Appendix C) commit to supporting the sharing of responsibilities and burden of hosting refugees in a more predictable manner.

The objectives of the GCR are to:

(i) ease pressures on host countries as well as the communities in which refugees live; (ii) enhance refugee self-reliance; (iii) expand access to third country solutions; and (iv) support conditions for the safe return of refugees in their country of origin.[19]

An integral part of the GCR is the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, which non-governmental organizations have been leading the on-the-ground implementation for over the last two years in 14 different pilot countries, such as Uganda.[20] This framework is a mechanism that connects refugee issues with broader discussions of development policy and practice. It is seen as an innovative tool “that can lead to substantial change.”[21]

The GCR aims to be a new international tool that can be used to respond to the current disproportionate fiscal and hosting responsibilities[22] assumed by front line countries. Currently, 88% of refugees are largely located in low and middle-income countries,[23] and approximately 10 countries host 60% the world’s refugee population.[24] For 2018, the protection needs were estimated by the UNHCR at USD $8 billion, for which only half was received; the UNHCR relies on voluntary contributions and 60% of its budget is funded by the United States, Germany and the European Union.[25]

Witnesses told the Committee that the GCR provides an important opportunity to demonstrate the value of collective action, to rebuild trust and to reinvigorate confidence in the rules-based international order.[26]

Common Elements to the Global Compacts

The Compacts share a number of common elements. First, they do not require ratification, as they are not treaties.[27] In December 2018, UN member states will simply vote as to whether or not they support the resolutions.[28]

Second, the Global Compacts are non-binding. The GCM sets this out specifically in paragraph 7 and the GCR in paragraph 4. Their implementation will occur, not because of new obligations, but because of the incentives they provide, such as new investments, and how they may appeal to the interests of states.[29]

Further, the Global Compacts explicitly recognize state sovereignty: the GCM provides for this in paragraph 15 c) and the GCR in paragraph 33.[30] In this context, officials told the Committee that Canada’s immigration legislation and programmes already generally meet domestic and international obligations related to migration and refugee protection.[31]

Both Global Compacts include the creation of a high-level forum, to be held every four years where progress can be measured, best practices shared and pledges for contributions made. The GCM provides for the IOM to coordinate the work of the newly established UN network on migration (paragraph 45),[32] including follow-up at the state‑led International Migration Review Forum (paragraph 49) to start in 2022. The GCR’s Programme of Action begins with the Global Refugee Forum (paragraph 17)[33] that will be held for the first time in 2019. The UNHCR is given a new responsibility to coordinate among states and partners concerned, measuring the impacts of protecting refugees and burden-sharing of responsibilities (paragraph 48), and to present these results at the Global Refugee Forums (paragraph 103).

Canada’s Next Steps

Support for the Compacts

Canada has supported the Global Compact on Migration to date. However, in the last year, a number media reports have indicated that some UN member states are opposed to the GCM. The United States,[34] Australia, Israel, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Bulgaria and Czech Republic have stated that they will not support the GCM. Poland and Estonia might also not support it. Countries put forward issues of national sovereignty with respect to immigration and asylum processes as reasons for their withdrawal from the GCM.

To this date, Canada has supported the Global Compact on Refugees to date. When the resolution to forward the GCR to the UN General Assembly was voted on in the Third Committee on 13 November 2018, it received wide support, except from the United States (Appendix C). The Committee heard various opinions regarding the consequences for Canada if it chooses to step away from the Global Compacts.

Witnesses highlighted Canada’s immigration system, based in the rule of law and respectful of human rights, is seen as a model in the international community.[35] In terms of refugee protection and complementary pathways, Canadian expertise in the private sponsorship regime has led to other countries adopting similar programmes tailored to their reality.[36]

Many witnesses testified to the effect that Canada played a lead role in the development of both Global Compacts, ensuring vital interests were included, such as national sovereignty, support for a strong immigration system, support for women and girls, and the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative.[37] These tools also provide for multilateral co-operation, highlighting the reality that no country can address these migration issues on its own. The Committee heard that a country’s policies and actions taken alone can be harmful to its neighbours.[38] If Canada is not part of the Global Compacts, it will lose access to these multilateral fora as well as erode the trust built over the last two years.[39]

Building on years of solid immigration practices and recognizing that Canada cannot solve the global phenomena of migration and forced displacements on its own, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 1

That the Government of Canada vote in favour of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees.

The Global Compacts as a Forum for Canada’s Continued Leadership

The Committee heard that both Global Compacts align with Canada’s immigration and asylum policies and that Canada has set the standard for the world in terms of migration management.[40] The Global Compacts allow Canada to promote its best practices and vision for migration and refugee management. The Committee heard that Canada is well situated to not only implement what is aspired to in both Global Compacts, but also to learn from them.[41] By participating in these Compacts, the international community will be better able to respond to crises and large movements of people through more comprehensive, planned national systems of migration that include more pathways to safe, orderly and regular migration as well as for protection. Indeed, Canada’ s leadership is noted in policy direction within the Global Compacts on the topics of IDPs, women and girls and privately sponsored refugees. Several witnesses remarked on the absence of solutions in the GCR to the challenges that IDPs face.[42] Paragraph 12 of the GCR does allude to the needs of IDPs,[43] indicating that the UNHCR and the IOM could be called upon to assist. However, in broad terms, IDPs do not fit under the 1951 Convention definition and do not have the same rights as refugees because they have not crossed an international border. Some witnesses have suggested that Canada play a lead role in developing a more predictable response to the plight of the IDPs who also do not leave their homes by choice.[44]

The Committee also heard of additional innovative funding practices, such as reallocation of frozen assets as per the Swiss model.[45] Witnesses also spoke about the need to better align the humanitarian and development branches of Global Affairs Canada in order to ensure a complete response when helping migrants.[46] As such, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 2

That the Government of Canada leverage the fora provided by the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact for Refugees to participate in shaping the future global best practices to address migration by: a) sharing Canada’s best practices and participating in the development of responses to the challenges facing internally displaced persons, including victims of genocide like the Yazidi and other victims of Daesh; b) sharing Canada’s best practices and participating in the development of programs to support migrating women and girls globally; c) offering to host future international conferences in support of the objectives of the Compacts; d) dedicating resources to combat myths and misinformation on the Compacts and migration, generally, to reassure Canadians that the Compacts do not threaten Canada’s sovereignty and indeed that safe, orderly and regular migration is important to our future prosperity.