Integrating legal approaches to migration

Migration is one of the oldest phenomena in human history. Yet recent political discourse on migration has turned the term into a ‘dirty’ word leading the public across many transit or receiving States to decry all forms of migration and to suggest that all individuals from foreign lands to be of some lesser value. This sour, inward turn has been enabled by the incoherence of the laws that speak to migration issues. For some years now, the international community has recognised the need to recalibrate migration discourse and clarify the distinct, positive and necessary features of migration. Furthermore, the recognition is underpinned by the practical reality that only a coordinated effort across States will be successful, which is logical considering that migration will always, by definition, engage at least two States and it is a primary conduit through which the cosmopolitan aims might be achieved. The many rounds of discussions surrounding the development of a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (Migration Compact) have clearly revealed that the only chance at delivering a framework for enhanced cooperation is to ensure that the Compact takes a coordinated, holistic and cross-cutting approach. This chapter explores the crucial nexus points between public and private international law to reinforce the potential impact of the forthcoming Migration Compact and how private international law could play a crucial role in developing the architecture through which these two fields of law could realise positive migration solutions.