The International Migration Review Forum, the primary intergovernmental platform to discuss and share progress on the implementation of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), is happening this week at the United Nations in New York. It occurs at a time when working families are struggling to manage overlapping health, economic, political, and racial justice crises. Democracies around the world are under attack, and workers and their unions are faced with severe threats to freedom of association, assembly, and expression and other closing spaces for civil society. Amidst these threats, the Global Coalition on Migration has joined the global labour movement in its call for a new social contract that ensures equality, inclusion, climate friendly jobs, universal social protection and rights for all workers, with no exclusions.
The implementation of the GCM, if it is to succeed, must also support and advance this broader agenda.
Charting a bold new course
The global pandemic has demonstrated that current systems are failing workers and migrants. This is true for both documented and undocumented migrants, and it is just as true for those fleeing conflict or climate change as it is for those seeking economic opportunity. While race, ethnicity, gender identity, or migration status exacerbate vulnerabilities, migrants overall are facing extreme deficits in their ability to exercise their protected rights.
